


Sirens & Serpents

by VanityFlair



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, F/M, I don't know, References to Teen Wolf (TV), Shameless Smut, Sirens, Slow Romance, Smut, Sort of Teen Wolf crossover?, Sweet Pea doesn't show up immediately, i guess, i hate writing tags, like super slow
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-05-31 14:16:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 50,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15121205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VanityFlair/pseuds/VanityFlair
Summary: Thrown into an alternate dimension thanks to her paranoid mother, Neris Sangster has to make it in Riverdale without anyone finding out her secret until she's able to return home. That shouldn't be too difficult, right?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The OC, Neris Sangster, was originally created for my Teen Wolf fanfiction: Run Swiftly Through The Night. She's my favorite OC and I've always wanted to keep writing about her even after my affection for the Teen Wolf series died off. 
> 
> When I watched Riverdale, I got the heart eyes for Sweet Pea, and since then I've thought about how the dynamic would be if he and Neris were to meet. After months of contemplation, I finally bit the bullet and wrote this story.
> 
> P.S. Reading the original story Neris is in isn't necessary for this story, but if you're interested here's the link:  
> https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8893573/1/Run-Swiftly-Through-the-Night

This was her new reality, and she kind of hated it.

The house was fine — a two story colonial with three bedrooms and three bathrooms frighteningly similar to the house she used to live in back in her own dimension. Maybe that was also part of the punishment.

Neris formerly lived in a town called Beacon Hills, moving to LA with her friend Scott after graduation. When a group of ragtag hunters that had formed during her senior year in high school grew exponentially and efforts to eradicate the supernatural were ramped up worldwide, Neris' mother claimed to be sending her to an alternate dimension for ‘her safety’.

Neris knew better. All the sirens had essentially gone underground, their features too distinctive and easily identifiable by hunters. Neris was the only siren being magically transported to an alternate dimension. She knew what her mother was really thinking; Neris was too dangerous. She was too eager to kill those who tried to kill her rather than taking a coward’s way out and running away. And the black Strophalos branded on her right forearm — one given to her by Hades himself so she could gain more power and protect her loved ones — amped up her propensity for rage and violence. In her mother’s eyes it was even worse, and therefore Neris was a liability.

Her mother wasn’t completely wrong, but this was just cruel. She wasn’t just transported to an alternate dimension, separated from her friends and family, but she was also physically reverted to her sixteen year old body and enrolled in the local high school. Going through high school once was bad enough, but now she was forced to go through it again.

Stupid druids and their stupid magic.

At least the druid that had been recruited by her family to ship her off had weaved a bit of brainwashing into their spell. There had been no moving van and the house just randomly went off the market, but the locals thought that the house had been sold as normal and a nondescript moving company moved her in.

Just her.

Apparently, Neris was an emancipated minor supporting herself off the immense wealth left to her by a grandparent. At least her mother had been generous to give her money in this new world.

Neris grumbled as she rolled out of bed and threw on some clothes. She’d need to go grocery shopping before her first day on Monday. Mid-semester transfer...great. For now, with bare cupboards and take out in the fridge that was unsuitable for breakfast, Neris would have to go where Google led her. Pop's Chock’lit Shoppe.

From the spelling, Neris was expecting something retro, either medieval or a fifties diner. But she didn’t expect to see the man with the black mask over his head running out of the shop as soon as she pulled into a parking spot.

Neris bolted out of her car and into the diner to see a shop employee, a portly black man in a white fifties-style uniform standing with a look of shock on his face, a teenage boy in a letterman’s jacket with a cast on his right arm kneeling on the ground, and an older man sprawled out in a puddle of blood.

Acting on instinct, Neris rushed over to the man’s side, pressing her hands onto the bullet wound on his abdomen that couldn’t be missed.

“Did you call an ambulance?” Neris shouted at the employee.

“I did,” he nodded shakily. “Just now.”

“How far away is the hospital?” She pressed.

“About fifteen minutes.”

Neris looked down at the substantial pool of blood. If the gunman just left then he must’ve shot the man and stuck around, then letterman kid and employee man wouldn’t have been able to call an ambulance until he left. Add on the thirty minutes, if not more, to get the wounded man to the hospital…

“That’s not going to work.” Neris mumbled, looking up to letterman kid. “Can you direct me to the hospital?”

“I can, but — ” He nodded.

“We can’t wait for the ambulance,” Neris cut him off. “We have to go now.” She turned to the employee. “Call them back and have them alert the hospital that we’re coming to them.”

Neris and the letterman kid hoisted the wounded man and brought him to Neris’ car.

“Get in the back seat with him,” Neris instructed. “You have to be the one to keep pressure on the wound; if he loses consciousness he won’t be able to.”

As soon as they were in the car, Neris took off, ignoring all the street signs as she followed the kid's directions to Riverdale General. He was talking to the man, who Neris would learn was letterman's dad, trying to keep him awake. Her parking job was crooked — who would care in this situation, to be honest — and she and letterman kid helped bring his dad into the hospital. His dad’s legs weren’t functioning properly, his blood loss bringing him to the brink of unconsciousness.

“Help, please.” The kid groaned under the weight of his father. “Help, hey! Someone help me and my dad.”

“We have an injured man here,” Neris yelled. “Get a doctor, dammit!”

A nurse heard their cries and ran out of the reception booth, followed close behind by more nurses. “Gurney!” She shouted.

“What happened to him?” A male nurse asked as the two teens transferred the weight of the man to the nurses.

“He was — he was shot,” the shaken teen answered as he helped the nurses move his dad to the gurney.

“Sir, can you hear me?” The female nurse asked the near unconscious man as they began wheeling him to surgery. “Can you tell me your name?”

“His name’s Fred Andrews.” Fred’s son informed them, panicking as he and Neris followed after the medical team.

“He’s not responding. Massive blood loss, it looks,” the nurse deduced as they wheeled him through the double doors meant only for authorized personnel. “He’s in shock.”

“Sir, I’m sorry,” the male nurse stopped the son as he tried to follow after his dad, Neris steps behind. “I need you to step away.”

The nurse stepped through the double doors, and as they swung shut the young man pressed his hand against one of the doors as he looked through the plexiglass window as they worked to save his father's life. “I’m right here, Dad,” he shouted through the window. “I’m right here. Okay. I’m right here. I’m right here.”

“He’s going to be okay,” Neris assured him. “The human body can go through a lot and still survive. He’ll be okay.”

The teenager didn’t respond, continuing to look through the plexiglass windows of the double doors.

“Come on,” Neris patted his shoulder. “They’re gonna have paperwork for you to fill out, and you're not going to want to watch this.”

“He’s my dad.” the boy protested. “I can’t leave him.”

“You’re not leaving him,” she corrected. “But, as sucky as it is, the paperwork needs to get done so they can better help your dad. My friend’s mom was a nurse; I know this stuff.”

Reluctantly, he allowed himself to be pulled to the waiting area. Neris got the forms he needed to fill out and brought them to where the boy was sitting.

“While you’re working on that, do you need me to call anyone to come be here with you?” She asked as she handed him the clipboard. “Friends, family?”

“Betty,” Archie dug his phone out of his pocket. “Call Betty.”

“Okay,” Neris nodded. “Oh, um, what’s your name?”

“Archie,” the boy replied, gripping the hospital’s pen tightly in his un-injured hand.

“I’m Neris,” she introduced herself. “It’s going to be okay.” She walked away to give him some space as she pulled up the entry for Betty on his phone.

“Hey,” a female voice greeted warmly as the call was answered.

“Hi, Betty. My name’s Neris; I’m with Archie at the hospital.” Neris told her.

“Oh my god,” the girl gasped. “Is he okay?”

Neris glanced over at the fidgeting figure filling out paperwork. “He’s fine, just really shaken up. His dad was shot at the diner and is in surgery. Archie needs people he knows with him.”

“Oh my god, yeah, I’m on my way,” Betty rushed and quickly hung up the phone.

Neris walked back to Archie and handed him his phone, gingerly taking the completed forms from him. “Here, I can turn these in for you.”

“How are you so calm?” He wondered, distressed.

Neris smiled ruefully. “I guess I’m kinda used to it.”

And so, they waited until Betty showed up. Archie had begun pacing, waiting anxiously for news about his father, when a small crowd walked in, led by a stunning brunette, an elfen blonde and a raven haired young man in a beanie.

“Arch?” The brunette called to catch his attention. “God,” she breathed as she made a beeline for Archie, wrapping him in a hug.

His two other friends came up to him, wrapping their arms around him as well. Neris looked to the trailing adults and gave an awkward wave to them. One of the older women — presumably the mother of the brunette girl — looked scarily similar to the Desert Wolf, a psycho werecoyote that had tried to kill one of Neris' friends. Hopefully this woman was nicer.

“You must be Neris,” the blonde girl turned to Neris once she’d pulled out of the hug.

“Yeah, I am; Neris Sangster,” she nodded. “I'm guessing you're the Betty I talked to.”

“Yeah,” Betty turned around to point at the brunette girl and beanied boy behind her “This is Veronica and Jughead.”

Jughead. Hopefully that was a nickname.

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you, though I’m sure we all wish it was under better circumstances.” She gave a half-hearted smile.

“Were you there?” Jughead asked. “When it happened?”

Neris shook her head. “Not when it happened. Just afterwards.”

“What happened, Archie?” Betty asked him gently, guiding him to sit on one of the waiting room chairs.

Archie sighed, leaning forward so his weight was on his elbows. “Dad and I were at Pop’s. I came out of the bathroom and there was this man — a thief, wearing this hood — with a gun on Pop Tate, and then he pointed it at my dad and he fired.”

“Oh, my God, Archie,” Veronica breathed sympathetically.

“And then he…” Archie trailed off.

“And then he what?” She prompted.

“And then he bolted.” Archie finished. “Then I was holding my dad. Pop Tate called an ambulance and then Neris came in. Neris had me get my dad in her car and drive him here.” He sighed, his words blanketed in anxiety. “And I don’t know, maybe I should’ve waited; maybe I made it worse.”

“No, dude, are you kidding me?” Jughead put a comforting arm over his friend's shoulders. “You guys saved your dad’s life.”

“He's right, Archie,” Neris agree. “With the amount of blood your dad lost, if we would’ve waited he...if was good that we left when we did.”

Archie sighed once more, not looking convinced.

“First Cheryl, and now your dad, Archie.” Jughead went on, trying to lighten his friend’s spirits. “If you keep this up, you’re gonna need a superhero name. Like Pureheart the Powerful.”

“There isn’t any new information.” A blonde, older woman — presumably Betty’s mother — informed them as she walked up to their group. “Your dad's in surgery. He’s gonna be there for a while.”

“Uh, Archie.” Veronica’s mom kneeled next to him. “Have you spoken to your mother about any of this yet?”

“No.” Archie shook his head. “No, I haven’t called her. I’ll be right back.”

Archie stood and made his way to another part of the hospital to call his mother. As he walked away, Betty’s mother sighed and glared at Jughead.

“What?” He asked reflexively.

“Mom.” Betty cautioned. “Do not start this.”

“Start what?” Jughead wondered.

“Well, of course, I can’t help but wonder if your Southside associates had anything to do with what happened to Fred.” Betty’s mother snipped.

“Alice, relax.” A man, presumably Betty’s father, whispered in her ear.

“Unbelievable.” Jughead scoffed. “At least you can’t accuse my father of being the shooter, considering he’s in jail.”

“Oh, my God,” Veronica whined, sinking back in her chair. “I can’t handle this.”

“I have no idea what’s going on,” Neris admitted, earning surprised looks from teenagers and adults alike. “I literally moved to this town two days ago. So...super confused.”

“You’re the one that moved into the house on West 3rd Avenue?” Betty’s mother asked.

“Yeah,” Neris answered haltingly. “How’d you know that? Is my house famous or something?”

“My family lives on East 3rd Avenue,” she replied. “Not to mention my husband and I own the Riverdale Register, so I make it my business to know everything that goes on in our town.”

“Oh. Sure.” Neris nodded. “I guess that makes sense.” She leaned to Jughead, who was seated next to her. “Is she always like this?” She whispered.

“Sometimes she’s worse,” he informed her in a similar tone.

“Interesting,” Neris curled her lip. Hopefully Betty’s mom wouldn’t get too nosy. The last thing she needed was a horde of paranoid townsfolk showing up at her door with torches and pitchforks.

Archie had returned to the group after calling his mom, and with no news from the hospital staff they lapsed into silence. A man wearing a sheriff’s uniform walked towards them, removing his hat as he drew closer.

“Sheriff.” Archie greeted as best he could, the whole group waiting for news about Fred standing up and moving towards the sheriff.

“How’s your dad doing?” The sheriff asked.  

“He’s still in surgery,” Betty informed him.

Archie sighed heavily, earning a sympathetic look from the sheriff. “Archie, I know this is a hell of a time for you, but perhaps we could go somewhere and talk about what happened.”

“Is it cool if I tag along?” Jughead piped up.

“Actually,” the sheriff began, “if you don’t mind — ”

“Yeah, that’d be great, Jug.” Archie cut the sheriff off.

Resigned, the sheriff nodded, allowing Jughead to accompany him to get a statement from Archie. As they walked away, Veronica groaned and flopped back into a chair.

“How long do we have to wait for them to tell us something?” She wondered.

“A bullet wound isn’t like a knife wound; it’s not a clean cut,” Neris informed her tonelessly, watching the sheriff walk away and thinking back to her other best friend’s dad, the sheriff of her old hometown. “The bullet rotates and rips the flesh and turns the insides into goo.” She turned to see the surprised expressions on the others’ faces. “I’m just saying, there’s a lot of damage that they’ll have to repair.”

“How do you know so much about bullet wounds?” Veronica’s mother asked.

“Oh, I worked at a vet clinic back home...back in my old home town,” Neris corrected herself. “We had to deal with a couple bullet wounds.”

She didn’t mention that those weren’t exactly in animals, but they didn’t need to know that.

“So, Archie’s dad,” Betty began worriedly. “Do you think he’ll be okay?”

Neris sighed. “He was still conscious when we got to the hospital; barely, but he could still somewhat focus on Archie. Look, I don’t know his dad — I don’t know what his health is like — but for anyone that’s a lot of trauma to go through. Plus, the trauma of repairing the damage and add the blood loss on top of it…” she trailed off when she saw the sinking expressions of Betty and Veronica. “I’m not helping at all, am I?”

“No really, no,” Veronica shook her head.

Neris lowered her head, sitting in the chair opposite of Veronica. “Sorry, I’m not really good with this kind of stuff. I’m more of an action kind of girl.”

“Like saving Archie’s dad,” Betty agreed.

“I didn’t save his dad,” Neris corrected. “The doctors are saving his dad. I just helped Archie keep him stable and drove the car to get here.”

“But still,” Betty went on, “I don’t even want to think of what Archie would be going through if you hadn’t been there.” She looked over to Veronica for her friend’s opinion and saw Veronica staring off with a blank look on her face. “V? You okay?”

“I have no idea what I’m doing,” Veronica replied.

“What do you mean?” Betty wondered.

“There are certain things no one does better than Veronica Lodge.” Veronica began. “Makeovers, party planning, dance-offs, dropping vintage bon mots as if they were bonbons.” Betty chuckled. “Conversely, there are things that I’m not good at. Grief, bedside vigils, comforting boyfriends.”

“Okay, well, that’s the old Veronica talking.” Betty argued gently.

“Old Veronica would’ve bolted by now. But new Veronica doesn’t want to let Archie down.”

“And you won’t.”

Veronica smiled warmly at her friend, looking over her shoulder. “Oh, and speaking of.”

Archie and Jughead were walking back from meeting with the Sheriff, though they paused for what looked like a quick heart-to-heart ending with a hug. As Jughead turned and left, one of the doctors walked up to Archie.

“Archie Andrews? I’m Steven Masters,” the doctor introduced. “I’m your father’s doctor.”

“How is he?” Archie asked, the rest of the group standing once again and walking closer to hear the doctor better.

“Well, we got the bullet out and we’ve stopped the internal bleeding.” Dr. Masters informed him. “But what’s most worrisome is he’s not breathing on his own yet.”

“I need to see him.” Archie urged.

“And you will.” The doctor agreed. “As soon as we’ve got him set in a room, you’ll be able to sit with him. Should be an hour or two at the most.”

“And until then, what am I supposed to do? Nothing?” Archie questioned.  

“Maybe,” Veronica interjected gently. “Maybe you should go home and get changed.”

“No, I’m not leaving.” He argued.

“No, Archie, wait. Veronica’s right,” Betty countered.

“I agree,” Neris interjected. “You can’t sit around a hospital with bloody clothes on. You shouldn’t sit around in bloody clothes, period. Now that I know you’re dad’s in recovery I’m going home to change. You should too.”

“Here are your dad’s clothes and personal belongings.” The attending nurse held up a white plastic bag with the words ‘PERSONAL BELONGINGS’ written on it in bright blue letters. “Everything he had on him.”

“Okay, well, yet another reason to go. You can get your dad a change of clothes.” Betty went on. “Veronica will go with you. Right, V?”

“We’ll hold the fort down here.” Betty’s mom spoke up. “Archie, try not to worry. Your dad is strong stock. He’s a fighter. Fred Andrews isn’t one to leave unfinished business behind.”

“Excuse me,” the sheriff reappeared, looking at Neris. “Archie said you were the one who helped him get his dad to the hospital.”

“That’s right,” she nodded.

“Alright, then if you don’t mind I have a couple questions to ask you as well.”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Neris agreed, following him to the cafe area.

“Okay,” the sheriff began as he took a seat opposite Neris. “Your name?”

“Neris Sangster,” she replied, “just moved into 2037 West 3rd Avenue.”

“And you arrived after the gunman fled?”

Neris nodded. “I saw him running out. I didn’t really get a good look at him — I thought he looked weird because he was wearing a black hood on his head. Like a ski mask, but even far away I could see the eye holes were way too big to be a real ski mask. I can’t really tell you much except he looked tall, was wearing nondescript clothing and a makeshift black hood. I’m sorry.”

The sheriff sighed and leaned back against the chair. “It’s alright. We’ll do what we can to find this guy. And, I’m sorry.”

Neris quirked her head to the side. “What for?”

He gave a humorless chuckle. “This isn’t a great welcome to Riverdale.”

Neris echoed his laugh. “Maybe not.”

Neris grumbled as she scrubbed her body wash on her arms and hands, washing Fred Andrew’s blood off her. Her clothes were soaking - her jeans suffering the worst of the stains.

“Dammit,” Neris huffed. Getting blood out from underneath her fingernails was never fun.

She was still cursing her luck as she towel-dried her freshly washed hair. “Thanks, mother.” she groaned as she threw the damp towel to the side. “From one hellhole to another. Well, at least its human on human violence.” She paused, realizing what she’d said and let out a louder groan. “Oh god, that sounded horrible.”

But it was just her luck. Her mother just _had_ to stick her in a town with a killer on the loose. Talk about _déjà vu_.

After slipping into some clean clothes, Neris made her way back to the hospital. She probably didn’t have to - after all, she really didn’t know Archie or his dad - but she felt it would be a nice thing to do to see this thing out to its end as best as she could.

“Whoa,” Neris breathed as she saw the large crowd that had gathered in the waiting room. She walked up to the closest person to her. “Are all these people here for Archie?”

“Yeah,” he confirmed, eying her. “Who are you?”

“I’m...well, I…” she fumbled, wondering how to word it without sounding like the hero Jughead had once claimed her to be.

“Oh my god,” the boy’s eyes widened. “You’re her, aren’t you? Betty said you looked like a supermodel.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“You’re the girl who saved Mr. Andrews’ life.” He gushed. “I’m Kevin, by the way.”

“Well, Kevin, you’re wrong. I didn’t save his life, I just drove the car.”

“You’re the girl who saved Mr. Andrews’ life?” Another guy walked up to her, taller and wearing a blue hoodie. “Man, I heard you were hot and you did not disappoint.”

“Oh my god, this town is so messed up,” Neris groaned quietly, a noise that was quickly becoming a habit for her. “Look,” she raised her voice to the rest of the waiting room could hear her. “I don’t know what you’ve heard, but I didn’t save Mr. Andrews’ life. I helped Archie keep him stable and drove them here. That’s it. Okay?”

The other teens in the waiting room looked at her strangely, either for her random outburst or for the fact that she was turning down praise freely given.

“Great,” Neris muttered. “Now I’m going to be a pariah come Monday.”

“You’re definitely not going to be a pariah,” Kevin snorted. “Not with looks like yours.”

“Or an ass like that,” the second boy added with a smirk.

“Oh my god, Reggie,” Kevin rolled his eyes. “Are you serious?”

“As serious as  — ” Reggie trailed off, seeing Archie walk back into the waiting room. “Oh, man.”

As Reggie walked towards Arche, Neris turned back to Kevin. “Please tell me that’s not how the majority of the male population at Riverdale High behaves?”

Kevin laughed lightly. “Majority of them? No. Enough of them to make you nauseous? Yes.”

“Great,” Neris drawled, looking back to Reggie to see him encasing Archie in a warm hug.

“Thanks, Reggie.” Archie said as he pulled out of the hug.

“Bulldogs are here for you.” Reggie told him.

“Bulldogs?” Neris whispered to Kevin for clarification.

“Riverdale’s mascot,” Kevin replied. “Archie and Reggie are on the football team.”

“And so are the Pussycats.” A pretty black girl spoke as she and her girl friends stepped forward. “We’re sending your dad our prayers and giving him as many of our nine lives as he needs.”

“Thanks, Josie.”

“Josie’s the daughter of Mayor McCoy,” Kevin explained. “She’s in a band with those two called Josie and the Pussycats.”

“Okay, but she knows they’re not actual cats, right?” Neris wondered as Kevin stifled a chuckle.

“Veronica said that you were down at the sheriff’s station?” Josie went on. “That maybe they got the guy?”

“Yeah, but it wasn’t him.” Archie replied. “He’s still out there.”

“Archie,” Dr. Masters called as he walked up to Archie. “He’s in Room 12, you can see him now.”

“Okay, great.” Archie nodded, walking past the doctor to get to his dad’s room.

“Listen,” the doctor stopped him, turning to face him, “he hasn’t woken up yet. But talk to him, coax him back. Keep it positive. Honestly, that could make all the difference.”

Archie nodded and continued down the hallway to his dad.

And so, they waited, Neris sticking to Kevin’s side — since he seemed the most normal — given that Betty, Veronica and Jughead — the only other people she knew — were off doing their own thing and having their own conversations. It wasn’t until dawn was just beginning to break that they got word that Archie’s dad had woken up and was one his way to a full recovery.

And Neris...after the day she had, Neris just wanted to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Neris sighed as she stood in front of Riverdale High School. It looked far more institutional than Beacon Hills High, though hopefully there would be far fewer deaths here than at her old school.

As she climbed the concrete stairs to the front door, she saw a familiar face descending them towards her.

“Kevin, hi,” Neris greeted.

“Hi Neris,” Kevin smiled back at her. “I’m your peer mentor.”

“Peer mentor?” Neris repeated with a disbelieving smile. “That is super cute. And, what, did you just casually forget to mention it when we met?”

“Well, I wasn’t originally assigned as your tour guide, which is what this basically is,” Kevin admitted. “Weatherbee had assigned Sam — he’s a football guy, like Reggie — and I figured you’d rather not be bombarded with innuendos and bad pick up lines when you’re supposed to be shown our illustrious school.”

“Kevin, you’re a godsend,” she chuckled, looping her arm through his.

Kevin laughed goodnaturedly as he led Neris through the school. “So, where’d you move from?”

“Northern California,” she replied. “A small town no one’s ever heard of, to be honest.”

“Well, that’s Riverdale too,” he remarked.

“Oh, but I love it,” Neris cooed. “It reminds me so much of home.”

“Even with the random shooting?” He quipped, and Neris snorted. “That reminds me; did you hear what happened at Pop’s?”

“Something else happened?” Neris wondered.

“Some vandals spray painted ‘Death Diner’ on the outside of it,” he explained.

“Are you kidding?” She rolled her eyes. “That’s ridiculous. The poor guy had nothing to do with what happened to Archie’s dad.”

“Yeah, and what’s worse is that practically all the staff quit and we’re pretty sure Pop is gonna have to close for good.”

“Oh my god, people can be so stupid.” She huffed. “I mean, what kind of sense does that make? Hint? None.”

Kevin chuckled, “You’re a sassy one. I love it.”

“I am many things, Kevin. Sassy isn’t even the tip of the iceberg.”

“I think you’ll fit right in,” he remarked. “And with a face like that you’re definitely going to be a popular one around here.”

Neris snorted unattractively. “Popular, whatever. Just as long as no one tries to get me to join the cheerleading team or whatever. That would end badly for everyone.”

“Trying to get you to join, or actually being on the squad?” Kevin wondered.

“Both.”

“Well, Cheryl’s coming up now, so better hope she doesn’t ask you to join,” he informed her as a red-headed girl with striking red lipstick walked up to them.

“You must be the girl that helped save Archie’s dad,” she smiled widely at Neris.

“I didn’t  — ” Neris began, but Cheryl cut her off.

“The whole school is talking about you,” Cheryl went on. “I’m so sad I didn’t get to meet you at the hospital, but my dear mother was injured severely when our house caught fire the very same day.”

“Oh my god,” Neris’ eyes widened. “Is she okay?”

“Thankfully, the doctors say she’ll make a complete recovery,” her look of sadness quickly morphed into yet another wide, gleaming smile. “But enough of that; you simply must join my River Vixens. You definitely have the looks and I have no doubt you have the talent, too.”

Neris turned to Kevin, “Cheerleading?”

He nodded. “Cheryl’s the captain.”

“So, I’ll see you at tryouts, then?”

Neris opened her mouth to reject her invitation, but wasn’t able to get even a syllable out before a couple of broad-shouldered guys walked up to them.

“New girl’s gonna become a River Vixen?” One of them remarked with a sleazy grin on his face, his friend wearing a similar expression. “That’s so hot.”

“That’s Sam,” Kevin whispered as he leaned over to Neris.

“I love you even more,” she returned in the same volume before raising her voice to address the three in front of her. “Yeah, I’m not going to be joining the Vixens, or any organized sport whatsoever, but thanks for the invite.”

Without waiting for a no doubt catty response from Cheryl or more leering stares from the jocks, Neris pulled Kevin around them and continued down the hall.

“Hardly anyone says no to Cheryl and lives to tell the tale,” Kevin marveled.

“I guess there’s a first for everything,” Neris chuckled.

“Well, technically not the first,” he corrected gently. “Betty and Veronica do it pretty much all the time, but everyone loves Betty and Veronica is the kind of girl that doesn’t take shit from anyone, so they’re semi-untouchable.”

“Gotcha,” she nodded. “So, in the realm of Riverdale, is Cheryl more of a Regina George or a Heather Chandler.”

Kevin gave a hearty laugh, “She likes to think of herself as either, or both, though in all actuality she’s neither. Sure she has the looks, the wealth, and thrives off the fear and intimidation she inspires in her fellow students, but honestly who can blame her with the parents she had?”

“Had?” Neris repeated. “She said her mom was going to recover.”

“Her mom, yes,” Kevin nodded, “but her dad recently killed himself after it was discovered that he was the one who murdered Jason Blossom, Cheryl’s twin, and was basically the drug kingpin of Riverdale.”

“Holy shit, are you serious?” Neris gaped. “Wow, I guess this town isn’t all white picket fences and apple pie like I thought it was.”  

During free period the next day, Neris was brought to the office of the Blue and Gold, Riverdale High’s newspaper, to help her make better friends with Betty and Veronica, who Kevin assured her were much better people to befriend than Cheryl and the majority of her Vixens.

But when they arrived, the conversation was less about getting to know Neris and more about saving the Chock’lit Shoppe  — though, if Neris was being completely honest, she didn’t mind all that much.

“We can’t let the terrorists win.” Betty stated. “We need to host an event at Pop’s that reminds the town of simpler times. Like, a throwback to when the shoppe first opened its doors.”

“Betty, I like a good milkshake as much as any girl, and Pop’s puts Serendipity 3’s to shame,” Veronica began, “But, why this hill to die on?”

Betty shifted on her feet, a small, nostalgic laugh escaping her lips. “Orange freezes with my mom and Polly after ballet,” she explained. “Chicken noodle soup with my dad after ice-skating. Grilled cheeses with Archie on the last day of summer vacation. It’s where I met you for the first time, V.” She looked over to Kevin, “It’s where I met _you_ for the first time. Also Jug. He may lose his dad, but maybe I can save this one place for him. For all of us.”

A knock on the door interrupted them, and without waiting for a response the door opened to reveal a tall, handsome older man and a smart-looking suit holding a bouquet of yellow roses and a small white gift box.

“Hey, Veronica.” He greeted almost bashfully. “May I speak to you?”

“Daddy?” Veronica wondered, staring at her father in confusion.

“Daddy?” The remaining three repeated.

After Veronica left to go speak with her father in private, Neris gave a mock shiver and turned back to Betty and Kevin. “Is it just me, or did anyone else feel the temperature drop a couple degrees when Veronica left with her dad?”

Betty and Kevin traded hesitant looks before Betty began her explanation. “Veronica’s dad spent some time in prison because he was...financially manipulative.”

“Embezzlement and fraud, basically.” Kevin clarified, earning a reproachful glare from Betty.

“It was pretty hard on her, especially when she found out Ethel’s dad  — ”

“One of our classmates.”

“  — was affected by it and tried to...well, kill himself.”

“Hence the awkwardness,” Neris mused. “I have been there and it’s not fun.” She pointed to herself. “Emancipated minor.”

Betty and Kevin gaped, which mildly surprised Neris. After Betty’s mom had essentially claimed to know everything that went on in Riverdale, she’d expected at least Betty to be aware of the cover story the druid had weaved into their relocation spell.

“Wow, are you serious?” Kevin breathed. “Why? I mean, not to pry or anything.”

Neris waved him off. “Nothing super dramatic. My mom just wasn’t the most stable person and after she told the courts she was giving up her rights as a parent they didn’t have much of a choice but to grant my petition for emancipation. My dad died when I was little and my mom basically poisoned the rest of my family against me, so I got to pick where I would live. With one small caveat,” she corrected. “Mother dearest wanted me far, far away so I literally threw a dart on a map to the continental US and ended up here.”

Neris grinned impishly on the inside as she stared at the shocked faces of her new friends. At least she could disparage her coward of a mother in what way she could even though she couldn’t tell them the whole truth.

“Oh my god, Neris,” Betty looked at her sympathetically. “I’m so sorry.”

Neris shrugged. “Don’t be. Honestly, it’s better for everyone that it happened. I’m not too big on the whole family drama thing so removing myself from the picture was just easier.”

“But how  — ” Betty began before cutting herself off, unsure how personal she should get, “How are you paying for a house and your car and everything?”

“My dad’s parents were stupid wealthy,” Neris used the backstory the druids had imagined for her. “He was their only son and he died before they did, and they weren’t too crazy about my mom, so when they died they left everything to me.”

“And yet you’re not living in your very own Thornhill?” Kevin wondered.

“I have no idea what that is,” Neris reminded him.

“It was Cheryl’s house before if burned down,” Betty explained.

“Old money,” Kevin went on, “like, bankrolling the founding of Riverdale old.”

“Gotcha,” Neris nodded. “And no; no Thornhill for me. It might be a mini-fortune, but I need it to last me until after college.”

“Oh,” Kevin deflated slightly. “How responsible of you.”

Neris snorted. “Sorry to disappoint.” She turned to Betty, “and if there’s anything I can do to help you guys save Pop’s let me know. I might be new here, but that doesn’t mean I can’t help save local traditions.”

“Yeah,” Betty nodded with a smile, “that’d be great.”

The pair traded numbers before Betty excused herself to River Vixens practice.

“Still sure you don’t want to try out?’ Kevin wondered with a grin.

“Don’t make me hit you,” Neris threatened playfully.

In class, Principal Weatherbee stood before the rows of students, a grave expression on his face.

“May I have everyone’s attention?” He announced. “I have some tragic news to share. Ms. Grundy, who was a teacher here last semester, was found murdered in her Greendale home last night.”

“Oh, my God.” Kevin breathed.

“I know some of you were students of hers, and that this news will be difficult to process.”

Without warning, Archie stood up from his desk and rushed out of the classroom.

“Mr. Andrews?” Weatherbee called after him, but received no response.

As Weatherbee began telling the students that grief counseling would be available at the school’s counselor, Neris leaned forward to Kevin, who sat in front of her.

“Any explanation for Archie’s quick exit?” She asked, knowing Kevin was her source for all Riverdale gossip.

He was all too eager to share. “When Ms. Grundy taught here, she and Archie were hooking up.” He told her over his shoulder.

Neris gasped. “No way.”

“Yes way,” he nodded. “There was a whole dramatic showdown between Archie, his dad, Ms. Grundy, Betty and her mom. Before she started dating Jughead, Betty had the _hugest_ crush on Archie and the whole thing hit her pretty hard.”

“And so she sicced her journalist mom on the pedo teacher?” Neris quirked an eyebrow.

“Not really,” Kevin shook his head. “Mrs. Cooper read about it in Betty’s diary.”

“Rookie mistake,” Neris shook her head.

“Am I interrupting you two?” Principal Weatherbee called over to Neris and Kevin, who immediately sat at attention.

“No,” they chorused.

That Friday, after school, Veronica, Kevin, and the rest of the River Vixen squad — minus Cheryl  — had banded together at Pop’s to clean up the graffiti in preparation for Retro Night. Since he was her peer mentor, Kevin had easily convinced Neris to help them.

“Hey, has Betty called?” Kevin asked Veronica as she passed by.

“Not yet.” Veronica shook her head, putting her hands on her hips. “Let's pray Cheryl comes through for them.”

Okay exposition boy,” Neris nudged Kevin. “Exposit.”

“Jughead’s dad unintentionally helped Mr. Blossom cover up Jason’s murder. It was done in the basement of the Whyte Wyrm, a Serpent bar.”

“You say ‘a Serpent bar’ as if I know what that means.”

“The Southside Serpents are a gang that haunt the southside of Riverdale,” Veronica explained. “Drugs, vandalism, typical gang violence.”

“With Mr. Blossom dead, and Jughead’s dad being the leader of the Serpents, all the focus is turning to FP.” Kevin went on.

“I’m guessing FP is Jughead’s dad.” Neris cocked her head to the side.

“That he is,” Kevin nodded.

“And Cheryl is helping how?”

“If she does what she’s supposed to,” Veronica began, “she’s going to forgive FP in front of the judge to give him a lighter sentence.”

“And if she doesn’t come through?” Neris wondered.

“FP gets twenty years and Betty will probably scalp her,” Kevin posited.

“Well, let’s hope Cheryl has enough sense of self-preservation to do as she’s asked.” Neris remarked as she scrubbed one of the black letters spray painted on the diner exterior.

That night, Retro Night began with a whimper. Save for all those who had been recruited to help, there was no one in the neon-lit diner.

“No one’s here.” Betty lamented as she sat at one of the rotating seats by the counter. “No one’s coming.”

“It’s still early, okay?” Jughead consoled her.

The bell above the door to the diner jingled as Mrs. Cooper walked through, shoving red, white and blue balloons out of her path.

“Mom.” Betty gave a tight smile as she stood to greet her mother. “What, did you come to gloat?”

“Oh, don’t be so cynical, Elizabeth.” Her mother scoffed. “I came to write my next story over one last root beer float. I’m calling it ‘Requiem for Pop’s.’ Can I get a quote, dear?”

“You’re a fiend, Mother,” Betty remarked, “but this is one obituary that you’re not gonna write.”

“Holy shit,” Neris breathed as she skated over to Jughead. “Her mother’s a damn piranha. I thought _I_ had it bad.”

“Yeah, Betty told me,” Jughead informed her. “That’s rough. But as for Alice Cooper, this is her being nice.”

“Goddamn.”

“You sure do curse a lot,” Jughead grinned.

“What, is it too wholesome for a town like Riverdale?” She joked.

He snorted. “Yeah it might be.”

“So, what else did she tell you about me?” Neris asked as she leaned against the counter top.

“Well, for starters, that you weirdly know a lot about bullet wounds for someone who used to be a vet assistant.” He began.

“Yeah,” She nodded. “And arrow wounds too, but that’s a whole other story. Oh, and an unhealthy knowledge of poisons, but I can balance that out with equally vast knowledge of herbs for healing.”

Jughead gave a light laugh as he marveled at the new girl. “Are you serious?”

“If I was a scout, I’d swear on my honor.” Neris held up a hand as if to do so.

“You are an interesting one, Neris Sangster,” Jughead shook his head with a good-natured smile on his face.

“Don’t I know it,” she chuckled as Betty returned to Jughead’s side. “Hey,” she patted Betty’s arm comfortingly. “I sympathize.”

“She’s being more vindictive than usual,” Betty moaned. “And unless we can get people here, she’ll unfortunately be right.”

“Hey,” Jughead put an arm around her shoulder, “you’ll think of something.”

“Maybe this is a stretch, but do you have any local celebrities or something?” Neris suggested. “I mean, I learned about Josie and the Pussycats when I was at the hospital with everyone else. It seemed that _they_ thought they were a pretty big deal; are they?”

“Oh my god, Neris, that’s brilliant,” Betty gushed pulling out her phone.

Whatever she did online must’ve worked, because soon the diner was breathing with life once more. Sure, it wasn’t the packed house that Betty had hoped for, but it was a start.

“All right, two strawberries, one vanilla, and one chocolate with extra malt,” Veronica recited as she placed the milkshakes in front of the four that ordered them.

The bell above the door jingled once more and Neris looked over to greet the newcomers, but the words died in her throat when she saw two irritated Pussycats headed towards Betty.

“Why the hell did you broadcast all over social media that the Pussycats would be doing a free concert here tonight?” Josie demanded as Cheryl perched on the counter next to her.

“I knew that if I asked you, you would have said  — ” Betty began.

“No!” Josie finished for her.

“Mmm-hmm.” Betty hummed, knowing that was exactly the answer she had expected.

“If my mom even hears that I set foot in this place…”

“Josie, you care about this place; I know you do. I see you in here all the time.” Betty tried to reason with her.

“Betty, even if I wanted to help, I’m down a cat.” Josie informed her. “Valerie has norovirus.”

“I don’t mind stepping in.” Cheryl piped up. “After all, if you can be a River Vixen, Josie, I can be a Pussycat.” Josie looked at her skeptically. “As long as it’s a cover, I’m sure I’ll know the lyrics.”

“I mean, you do love your cheese fries, Josie,” Josie’s cohort grinned.

Josie sighed, looking at the expectant smiles of the girl around her. “Fine,” she raised her hands in defeat. “Fine.”

Josie turned and walked out of the diner, her fellow Pussycat and Cheryl trailing behind to set up for the performance. Betty smiled widely, almost not believing it had worked, and spun around to hug Neris tightly.

“Oh my god, Neris,” Betty squealed, “your idea worked!”

Neris chuckled, her arms trapped under Betty’s so she was unable to return the hug. “You must really love this place.”

“I do,” Betty beamed as she pulled out of the hug. “Thank you.”

A decent crowd had formed and they all gathered in front of the diner to watch the performance. Josie, her remaining Pussycat, and Cheryl were all wearing the yellow shirt and red shorts that the female members of the makeshift crew of the diner were all wearing that night. They’d stationed themselves on top of the roof, mics in hand and surprisingly well-lit for a makeshift roof performance.

They began singing a cover of ‘Milkshake’, a weird mishmash of sugary pop with an Andrews Sisters vibe. Neris snorted; their voices were fine but the arrangement? Terrible.

She looked over to see Archie standing amongst the crowd, his face darkened and Neris knew he was reliving what happened with his father. She maneuvered her way over and gently took his arm to get his attention.

“Archie, you need to breathe,” Neris told him, having to speak loudly to be heard over the music. Even if he heard her, Archie didn’t seem like he was really listening, still caught in the traumatic flashback. “Archie!” She shouted, and he finally looked over to her. “I know what you’re feeling; you feel stuck in your head, in that moment, and being here makes it worse. But you have to breathe through it. Get inside away from the noise.”

“I don’t think I can — ” he began.

“You want to be stuck in the past or do you want to move forward?” Neris asked him.

He nodded, and though it wasn’t really an answer he pushed past the crowd to go inside once the performance had ended.

“Hey Daddy-O,” Veronica walked up to him, flashing a pearly smile at Neris as she entered behind him and made her way to the counter.

“What’s up, jerk?” Neris greeted as she leaned her elbows against the counter. Betty and Jughead flashed her matching expressions of confusion. “Soda jerk,” Neris clarified with a chuckle. “Are my references that awful?”

Jughead snorted, “They need some work, but I think you’ll catch on quickly.”

“You and me,” Neris wiggled her finger back and forth between Jughead and herself. “Best friends. I can feel it already. I mean, the sarcasm and the wit make you a dead ringer personality-wise to my friend Stiles. He’s been my best friend for _years_ so I’m seeing a beautiful friendship between us.”

“Is this the part where I say I’m honored?” He quipped.

“Yeah, I think it is,” Neris laughed.

Betty had been silent through their interaction, and Neris and Jughead looked over to see a look of worry plastered on her face. They followed her gaze to see three gruff looking men entering the diner. As they walked away, Neris could see the serpentine logo on the back of their jean vests. These must’ve been the Southside Serpents that Kevin had told her about.

“Relax, Betty,” Jughead comforted his girlfriend. “I’m sure they’re just here to enjoy Pop’s world-class burgers and service.” He gently tilted her chin upwards with his finger. “Just like me.”

They smiled as they kissed and Neris grinned at them. Oh, to be young and in love.

“Ugh, you two are like chimps in captivity, grooming and picking lice off each other.” Cheryl scoffed as she sidled up next to Neris. Jughead and Betty separated reluctantly and walked closer to Cheryl, who turned her gaze to Neris. “Excuse us, this is a private conversation.”

“I’m guessing this has something to do with Jughead’s dad,” Neris nonchalantly picked at her fingernails. “So, I’m fine where I am.”

Cheryl glared at Betty and Jughead. “Who told her?” she hissed.

“You do realize your town is a cesspool for gossip, right?” Neris remarked. “Even if no one knows the specifics, they still know something. And since I’ve designated myself as Jughead’s new best friend and fearsome protector — my very own Riverdale Stilinski,” she grinned at Jughead as he and Betty rolled their eyes at her as she momentarily lightened the mood, “I’m staying. That is, if that’s okay with you.”

“Hey, Jughead shrugged. “I’m not the one chasing you away.

The three looked to Cheryl, who scoffed once again with an overdramatic eye roll. “Whatever.” She leaned in, lowering her voice as she glared at Betty “Mark this day in your diary. I lied under oath for you. And thank God I’m quick on my feet.”

“Cheryl, thank you.” Jughead replied as he pulled what looked to be a thumb drive out of his pocket and passed to the redhead.

“Honor your promise to me.” She requested simply and walked off once she got a confirming nod from Betty.

The blonde girl sighed and curled into her boyfriend’s side as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Listen, Neris,” Betty began, but Neris held both hands up to stop her.

“You don’t have to explain anything to me,” Neris told her. “Trust me when I say as vaguely as possible that I completely understand that there are certain situations where the less someone else knows, the better. I’ve been there, done that, and I’m fully aware that I’ll have to do it again.”

Especially for the rest of my time here, Neris thought to herself.

“Thank you, Neris,” Betty replied genuinely.

“Don’t thank me,” Neris shrugged with a singular shoulder. “I’ve adopted you as my friends and now there’s nothing you can do about my unwavering loyalty.”

Betty and Jughead laughed, accepting Neris’ friendship that came hand-in-hand with her apparent strangeness. Neris returned their grin as she turned around, resting her elbows against the counter top.

She had to make the best of this situation, and making friends was high up on that to do list. She had no idea where to start in terms of finding a way back to her own dimension — she wasn’t even sure it was possible if she was being honest with herself — and if she was going to be stuck here for a while, she needed _some_ kind of socialization.

It didn’t hurt that Jughead truly was Riverdale’s version of Stiles Stilinski. From what little she’d seen of him, Archie seemed to be like her other best friend Scott, and Cheryl was definitely the Lydia of Riverdale, but with slightly more vitriol.

Neris shook her head slightly, clearing her head of those intrusive. She couldn’t keep making comparisons between Riverdale and Beacon Hills otherwise she’d drive herself crazy.

She ran a hand through her silvery-gold hair — a trait that thankfully hadn’t attracted any probing questions. She’d gotten a few at school, asking whether or not it was natural, or whether her grey eyes with the purple ring around the pupil were actually contacts. Maybe she was more comfortable in her skin now than she had been when she actually _was_ sixteen, but the looks she was getting at school from boys and girls alike no longer made her feel like she was a sideshow freak.

Whatever. She just wanted some cheese fries now.

As the night drew to a close, Pop gathered everyone in the diner to him to make an announcement. “I gotta put her on the spot. It's thanks to this young lady here,” he began as pointed to Betty, “that Pop’s gets to stay open tonight, tomorrow — as long as you folks keep coming.” A loud round of applause and cheers rippled throughout the diner. “Thanks, also, to the Lodge family for a donation they just made that gives us a little cushion to weather any storm that might come up.”

Another round of applause began as Betty ran to hug Pop Tate warmly. With no more orders coming in that Pop couldn’t handle on his own, the volunteer staff were able to mingle with their friends. Despite their offer, Neris let Betty and Jughead hang out with Archie and Veronica without her. The booths at the diner weren’t made for five people, after all.

Instead, she hung around Kevin and Josie, both of whom were more than willing to shoo away and potential suitors for Neris at her behest.

“Seriously, how many horny teenagers are at your school?” Neris marveled as she lost count.

Josie snickered. “Are you sure you weren’t home-schooled?”

“Damn sure,” Neris nodded. “But at my old school they knew how to keep it in their pants. Or at least flirt subtly.”

Kevin and Josie laughed. “Hey, at least you weren’t here when the Book was going around.” Josie told her.

Neris grimaced. “Do I even want to know what that is?”

“The guys on the football team made a list in a playbook of every ‘conquest’ they made,” Kevin explained. “And there was a points system.”

“That is disgusting,” Neris spat. “Please tell me it’s not still going on.”

“Thankfully, no,” Josie told her. “Chuck Clayton, the ringleader and former captain of the football team, got suspended after Betty wrote an article exposing the whole thing.”

“Well, thank god for Betty Cooper.”

They clinked milkshake glasses and slurped the sweet, frozen dessert as they chatted away the rest of the night. When they had left, Neris moved to keep Betty company after Jughead had gone home for the night. The pair were refilling sugar containers when Betty’s mother walked over to them.

“You do know that several drug deals went down here tonight,” Mrs. Cooper stated simply.

Betty paused, taken aback. “What?”

“And if you think that Hiram Lodge, Riverdale's answer to Scarface, helped Pop Tate for altruistic reasons, I have a bridge to sell you.” She went on.

“Mom…” Betty seemed unable to form a sentence.

“The Serpents have now officially crossed the tracks and have a toehold on the Northside.  
So, congratulations, Betty.” Mrs. Cooper was unrelenting. “You're almost single-handedly responsible for giving crime a haven in Riverdale.”

Betty slowly rotated in her seat as her mother left, slack-jawed at her words. Neris opened her mouth to comfort her friend, but no words came to her.

“Fuck, I’ve got nothing,” Neris sighed, “other than your mom is ridiculous. Talk about the dark cloud that rains on your parade.” Neris looked over to Betty, whose expression was still one of shock. “Hey, I’m sorry if it sounds like I’m bashing your mom, even though I kind of am.”

“What if she’s right?” Betty wondered.

“Doubtful,” Neris remarked. “Granted, I might not know how things work in this town, but if people were going to bring crime to the Northside as your mom claims they were, then they’d find a way to do it with or without the diner being open. This has nothing to do with you.”

Betty deflated slightly and sent Neris a weak smile. “Thanks, Neris.”

“No prob,” Neris playfully bumped shoulders with Betty. “And if you need to escape the tyrannical matriarch, I’ve got a spare bedroom.”

At that, Betty finally relaxed as she laughed. “Well, let’s just hope that if I do stay over at your house, it’s for a regular sleepover and not because my mom was being...well, my mom.”

“Fingers crossed,” Neris joked good-naturedly. 


	3. Chapter 3

“It was full-on Carrie.” Kevin shakily told his friends about the previous night when he found Midge and Moose, two Riverdale High students, in Fox Forest, “Midge covered in Moose’s blood, screaming like a banshee. It was insane.”

“Kev, what were you even doing there?” Archie wondered as he walked into the student lounge where his friends were seated. “You could’ve been shot, too.”

“I was just night-jogging,” Kevin explained. “You know, as one does, and suddenly, I hear gunshots.”

“Look, can we agree there’s a killer on the loose?” Archie sighed as he sat in one of the empty chairs.

“With terrible aim,” Jughead remarked.

“Jughead, he murdered Ms. Grundy.”

“Arch, we don’t know these three crimes are related.” Betty gently reminded him as she leaned forward.

“Well, what do they have in common?” Neris wondered. “My friend’s dad — who also is a Sheriff,” Neris gave a pointed look at Betty, “used to say one is an incident, two’s a coincidence, and three’s a pattern. We’ve reached number three, so if this is all being done by the same person then what’s the pattern? What links them?”

“Guys, can we focus on what matters here?” Veronica interjected. “Midge and Moose are alive. Archie’s dad survived. The new season of the Matchlerette starts tonight. You’re all coming over to watch.”

“There’s a shooter terrorizing the town.” Jughead deadpanned. “You really want us to watch a gross dating show?”

“Yeah, I have to agree,” Neris grimaced. “Those priorities seem a little skewed. Also, am I included in that invite or do I just happen to be sitting here?”

“Yes, Neris, you’re invited,” Veronica replied. “And what I really want is for you guys to meet my dad officially. Back in New York, my dad was always in his study, doing very bad things as it turns out. I’m tired of closed doors. I need to know my dad’s life and he needs to know mine.”

“Well, we’ll be there, V.” Betty smiled warmly at her friend. “Can’t wait.”

“Thank you.” Veronica whispered.

“Hey, Andrews,” Reggie called as he walked into the student lounge. “We’re going to the hospital to see Moose. You coming?”

“Yeah, for sure.” Archie nodded as he stood. “I’ll see you tonight, Ronnie.”

“Oh, I better go too.” Jughead also stood has he shoved his phone into his jacket pocket. “I was supposed to meet my peer mentor at Southside High half an hour ago.”

“Wait, are…” Betty trailed off as she followed after her boyfriend. “Are you sure you can’t just keep going here?”

“I’ll be fine,” Jughead reassured her as he gently kissed her.

“Bye,” Betty spoke quietly as they pulled away.

“Make good choices,” Neris called after him as she grabbed her bag to walk with Kevin to class, and she could hear Jughead laugh as he walked away. “So, is night jogging Riverdale code for something?” Neris asked Kevin, “Cause it was back home.”

“What did it mean there?” Kevin wondered.

“Let’s see if we can find a dead body,” Neris deadpanned, snorting when she saw Kevin’s shocked face. “Sorry, too morbid?”

“Given the current situation, a little,” he replied.

“Okay,” Betty began she she rushed to join them, looping an arm through Kevin’s, “it’s just us now. Night-jogging?”

“Get in line,” Neris joked. “I asked him the same thing, and he deflected. So, Kev, night-jogging?”

“Yeah. I’m trying to get in shape for wrestling.” He attempted, but Betty pinned him with a disbelieving stare. “Okay, fine, I was cruising Fox Forest. But, I _am_ going out for wrestling and I had to tell my dad I was jogging.”

“He believed you?” Betty wondered.

“Yeah. He wants to believe me.” Kevin remarked.

“Hey, look, I get it; you’re post-Joaquin, but cruising? Come on, Kev, you know I hate that.” Betty went on as Kevin stopped at his locker. “Why can’t you use Grind’em like every other gay guy?”

“Because nobody’s who they say they are online.” Kevin defended. “At least in real life, what you see is what you get, there’s no surprises.”

“Weeeellll,” Neris scrunched her nose, “that’s not entirely true either.”

“Look, Kevin,” Betty went on, “Moose and Midge were shot literally 300 yards from Fox Forest, and the person who did it is still out there. Tell me you won’t go back there, at least not until he’s caught.”

“Okay, fine.” Kevin gave a light chuckle, holding up three fingers. “I will not go back. Scout’s honor.”

“Well, now that we got the dramatics out of the way,” Neris grinned as they finally made their way towards class. “Who’s Joaquin?”

Betty and Kevin were silent, exchanging glances.

“Uh oh, did I just bring the drama back into the conversation?” Neris wondered.

“Joaquin is a Serpent,” Betty began tentatively.

“He got roped into helping Jughead’s dad with the cover-up and then got close to me to see how much my dad knew,” Kevin finished bitterly.

“Damn,” Neris breathed. “That is all kinds of douchbaggish. Want me to beat him up for you?”

Kevin chuckled. “Even if I knew where he was, I just want him to stay there. No violence needed.”

That night, Kevin called Neris, asking her to stay home from Veronica’s ‘Meet the Father’ Matchlerette night.

“Well, I wasn’t exactly chomping at the bit to go,” Neris shrugged. “Besides, her parents kind of creep me out. Like, too perfect on the outside but dead behind the eyes, you know?”

“No,” he replied, “I don’t know.”

Neris laughed. “Fair enough. But why do you want me to not go?”

“I need you to be my alibi,” he informed her.

“Hang on,” she paused, “are you going into Fox Forest again?”

“Are you going to tell me not to?” He groaned, expecting her reaction to be like Betty’s.

“No, but I do want you to be safe,” she corrected. “Do you want to swing by my place and pick up some condoms?”

“Got that covered.”

“Pepper spray?”

He snorted, “I think I’m fine.”

“Collapsible nightstick?”

“You have one of those?” He marveled.

“Eh. Never used it, but better safe than sorry.”

“Did you really just escape from the mafia and are now in some kind of witness protection program?” He wondered. “Cause you seem to know a lot about guns and now I find out you have a collapsible nightstick.”

Neris laughed. “No, I was never in the mafia. And even if I _was_ in the witness protection program, I wouldn’t be able to tell you cause then my cover would be blown.”

“Oh, yeah,” he realized.

“Look, you go get your cruise on,” Neris told him. “I’ll cover for you if Betty interrogates you tomorrow.”

“Thank you Neris,” Kevin gushed.

And the next day, Betty sidled up to Kevin in the student lounge with exactly that intent. Kevin and Neris were perched on opposite chairs, Neris favoring an upside down position as she finished the assigned reading for English.

“What happened last night?” Betty asked as she sat across from Kevin. “You said you were coming to Veronica’s.”

“I went over to Neris’,” Kevin replied, both of them looking at Neris expectantly.

“Yeah,” Neris nodded as best as she could with her body facing the opposite direction. “I felt kind of awkward meeting Veronica’s parents seeing as how I just met _her_ , so Kevin kept me company.”

“Oh,” Betty chirped. “What’d you guys do?”

“Watched a movie,” Kevin replied.

“Which one?”

“The Lost Boys,” Neris replied, naming the movie she had actually watched at the same time Kevin answered with ‘Heathers’. Neris and Kevin traded grimaces. They should’ve planned for this.

“Uh huh,” Betty sighed as she looked at Kevin, disappointed.

“Okay, I didn’t go to Neris’ place,” Kevin was forced to admit. “Something came up.”

“Something in the woods?” She gave a humorless smile.

“Betty, don’t take this the wrong way, but how many years did I listen to you go on and on about Archie and now Jughead?” Kevin asked. “Did you ask my permission to date them? No, because you didn’t need it. And I don’t need yours.”

“Dating is one thing.” Betty contested. “This is — ”

“It’s none of your business.” Kevin cut her off, putting his notebook back into his bag. “I’ll, uh, catch you later.”

He grabbed the rest of his things and walked out of the lounge, eager to get away from the conversation.

“Kev.” Betty softly tried to get him to stop, but he refused to listen. As he disappeared out the door, Betty turned to Neris. “I can’t believe you’d cover for him.”

“Sorry?” Neris scoffed, righting herself in her chair.

“It’s dangerous out there,” Betty emphasized.

“Yes, both Kevin and I are fully aware of that, but have you stopped to consider that maybe he’s not running on logic right now?”

“What are you talking about?” She drew back slightly.

“I might not have been here for very long, but even I can tell that while Riverdale might not be the most conservative of towns it doesn’t have a thriving gay community. Actually, I think the community might just be Kevin and a handful of others.”

“But still, that doesn’t mean — ”

“That you can police his behavior?” Neris finished for her. “You’re right, it doesn’t.” Neris stood and threw her bag over her shoulder. “Look, Betty, I get that you mean well. Really, I do. But Kevin’s smart; if there’s any sign of actual danger he’ll get out of there.”

Without another word, Neris left the student lounge.

She sighed as she adjusted her book bag over her shoulder. She thought she left the high school drama behind when she graduated high school. The first time. Admittedly, this ran more along the same vein as what she was used to at Beacon Hills. Murders, attempted murders...as long as there weren’t ritual sacrifices on the horizon, Neris was sure she could deal.

And even when flyers for ‘The Red Circle’ — Archie’s high school, city-wide version of a neighborhood watch group — started cropping up around town, Neris didn’t pay it much mind. These people were going through a difficult time, one Neris was all too familiar with, though thankfully the body count of Riverdale was nowhere near that of Beacon Hills.

But then the article in the _Riverdale Register_ was published. The black hooded shooter, who actually called himself ‘The Black Hood’, sent a letter to the Coopers. In it he stated that he was going against the sinners of Riverdale. And while it might not have been known yet, Neris was possibly one of the biggest sinners in the town. The amount of blood on her hands…

No one could find out.

“He found out,” Kevin’s voice caused Neris to jump; she hadn’t heard him come up beside her.

It was a couple days after the article was published, and as each day passed the whole town drew closer and closer to the edge.

“Who found out what?” Neris wondered as she tried to steady her breathing.

“My dad,” Kevin elaborated bitterly. “Betty told him what I really do when I’m night-jogging. She and Cheryl ambushed me in Fox Forest and lectured me about my behavior. And since I didn’t listen to her, she told my dad.”

“Can I play devil’s advocate?” Neris asked.

“I’d rather you be completely on my side.” He admitted as they reached his locker.

“I’m sure you do,” she grinned softly as he opened his locker. “But, Betty’s running on some pretty strong emotions, just like you are. And fear makes people do stupid things. Sometimes it’s the fear of being unlovable.”

Kevin looked at her, exasperated. “Are you Freuding me right now?”

“Freud was a crock,” Neris snorted. “And, let’s be real. Have you seen how I look?”

“Yeah, you’re hot,” Kevin rolled his eyes. “Way to rub it in.”

“Well, for the better part of my life I thought I belonged at a carnival with the bearded women and the three-legged men.” She confessed. “My looks might run in my family, but amongst the general population I felt like a freak. So believe me when I say I know what’s it’s like to feel like an outsider.”

Kevin gave Neris a small, thankful smile, turning back to his locker before something caught his attention over his other shoulder. Betty was at her locker, and a soft smile crossed her face as she caught his eye, closing her locker and taking a couple steps towards him.  Kevin closed his locker firmly and took Neris by the arm, walking away from Betty.

“I don’t want to talk to her,” he confessed.

“And right now, you don’t have to,” Neris told him. “But try not to stay mad at her forever. She went about this in the wrong way, yes, but she did it because she cares about you. Punish her for a while with the cold shoulder,” Neris chuckled, “but don’t make it last forever.”


	4. Chapter 4

Archie Andrews was an idiot. Plain and simple.

“This is a message for the coward calling himself the Black Hood. You think you can attack us from the shadows. But Riverdale is a lot stronger than you. And we’re not afraid. See, there’s only one of you. But we are legion. We’re called the Red Circle. And we’re coming for you. We will find you. We will hunt you. And we will end you.”

That was verbatim his message in the video he and his ‘Red Circle’ squad — which looked more like a bootleg version of Magic Mike for all its shirtless muscular guys — posted on the internet.

Rather than inspiring fear in the Black Hood, the rest of the town became drenched in fear. Kids walked to school in groups, Neris was told numerous times that she wasn’t safe in her house alone — that she needed to install more locks on every door and window. Neris knew she’d be fine, but others didn't know that. This was evident when Cheryl and a few of her Vixens showed up at Neris’ doorstep.

“We’re walking as a group to school, and since you’re still essentially a nobody in this town, I thought my Vixens and I would be gracious and invite you to join us,” Cheryl oh so magnanimously offered.

Neris had to stifle a laugh, knowing that behind the attitude Cheryl was coming from a genuine place. Grabbing her book bag from the couch, Neris joined Cheryl and her Vixens as they made their way towards school.

“I simply cannot understand what Archie was thinking when he posted that video,” Cheryl remarked as they turned a corner.

“It’s fear-mongering,” Neris remarked. “Plain and simple. And the problem is, it’s reaching the wrong target.”

“Too true, Neris,” Cheryl nodded. “Too true. We are made to fear even stepping out of our front door lest we become the next target.”

“But the Black Hood is only targeting sinners,” one of the Vixens piped up.

“And can you safely say you have never once sinned?” Cheryl wondered, arching a perfectly sculpted eyebrow and cowing the Vixen into submission.

Once she got to school, Neris headed to the Blue and Gold office, hoping to put Betty’s mind at ease as Kevin continued to give her the cold shoulder. She might not have agreed with Betty’s actions, but Betty seemed sweet if not a little sheltered. She thought she was doing the right thing.

“Hey Betty,” Neris smiled as she poked her head inside the room.

“Oh, hey,” Betty gave her an unsure smile, seated at her desk as she held a manila envelope in her hand.

“Can we talk?” Neris wondered as Betty opened the letter. “I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about this this thing with you and Kevin.”

“He’s pissed at me for trying to protect him,” Betty stated plainly. “What’s there to misunderstand?”

“Okay, maybe I chose the wrong words.” Neris admitted. “And while I don’t agree with you going behind Kevin’s back and talking to his dad, I do know that it came from a good place. Kevin does too, he just needs to blame someone else for a bit before he can blame himself. It’s classic high school misdirection.”

Betty didn’t respond, and that’s when Neris noticed she was hyper focused on the letter she’d taken from the envelope. All the color had drained from her face.

“Betty?” Neris stepped closer, unsure if the girl was even breathing.

“Oh my god,” Betty finally spoke, her voice shaky.

Neris took the letter from her, Betty’s shock leaving her hands lax and unable to grip the paper. As Neris read, she slowly sank down into the seat next to Betty’s.

“Holy shit,” she breathed, lowering the letter to the table. “Betty, do not pay attention to any of this.”

“But it says — ”

“I don’t care what it says.” Neris cut her off.

Neither of them spoke. Neither of them knew what to say. Betty’s elbows were against the desk, her hands tightly clasped and pressed against her mouth as she stared at the letter. Neris was leaning against one of the wall cabinets, worrying her thumb with her front teeth. She had no idea how to comfort Betty, but more prominent in her mind was that this shooter had just dragged a high schooler into this.

She’d been pulled into many things she didn’t want to when she was in Beacon Hills, but that was almost always because either she or her friends were the only ones who knew what was actually going on. This time, the entire town was a potential target and _no one_ knew what was going on.

Kevin walked into the room, heaving a heavy sigh. “Betty? Okay, so, telling my dad about me cruising the woods? Not cool. He even told my mom about it.” He sat down in a wooden chair that had been next to Neris, pulling it so he was closer to Betty. “Also, I’ve re-upped my online membership to redstatemeat.com, so there’ll be no cruising for the foreseeable.” He finally noticed that neither Betty nor Neris was paying attention to him. “Betty? Wha — what is it?”

Betty leaned back in her chair, the wood creaking as she put her weight on it. “I was going through the Blue and Gold’s mail and I got a letter from the Black Hood killer.” She picked up the letter and passed it to Kevin, her eyes haunted. “He says he’s doing it for me.”

“Betty, your words at the Jubilee inspired me.” Kevin read. “The town’s sinners must show their contrition. If not, there will be more suffering and bloodshed. Enclosed is a cipher. It details where I will punish the next sinner. It is a test. Only you may solve it, Betty.”

Betty sighed, the weight of the words heavy on her shoulders. “My speech...inspired him. That stupid speech I wrote.”

“Crazy doesn’t just happen, Betty,” Neris shook her head. “You did nothing; this guy twisted whatever you said and made it suit his own desires. This has _nothing_ to do with you.”

“So the Black Hood was at the Jubilee.” Kevin supposed.

“The entire town was there.” Betty corrected.

“We have to give this to my dad.” Kevin decided.

“The cipher, yeah, sure, but not the letter,” Betty snatched it back. “This is just...for me. We can’t tell anyone about it.”

“It’s evidence,” Kevin pressed.

“Kevin, if we give this letter to your dad, he will tell my mom and she will make damn sure I'm nowhere near this.”

“Good.”

“No,” Betty raised her voice. “This...is a test. He said so himself. What if the start of the test is to see what I do with the letter? Do I share it? Or not? Am I strong? Or am I weak? Am I worthy?”

“He’s a psychopath, Betty,” Kevin lowered his voice and leaned in towards you, “and you are in high school, not the FBI.”

“Isn’t it better for people to be focusing on the cipher, rather than the letter?” Betty asked desperately.

“How would that even happen?”

“Well, that’s easily answered,” Neris interjected. “The better question is, how do we get your mom to publish it without freaking her out any more than she probably already is?”

“I’ve got that covered,” Betty announced.

Sure enough, Betty came through. She cried to her mother when she showed her the cipher and Alice almost immediately published it in the Riverdale register. Just as Betty had suspected, the town became focused on cracking the cipher.

Unfortunately, they also remained focused on Archie and his Red Circle. While the rest of those involved had wised up and cut their losses, Archie remained firm to his cause. Even when forcibly removed from the football team.

And when Veronica took it on herself to create custom made shirts to support him, Neris got roped into wearing one even though she was vehemently against the Red Circle nonsense.

Even more nonsensical was the code cracking party at Jughead’s trailer that Neris had gotten roped into. Though she wouldn’t admit it, Neris could tell that Betty was wary of Jughead’s new friend Toni. And so, all six of them were spread out in the living area of the trailer, papers and takeout boxes scattered around them.

“These symbols look so familiar to me.” Betty sighed, frustrated. “It’s like I've seen them before and it’s driving me crazy I can’t figure out where.”

“Maybe if you loosened your ponytail.” Toni cracked from the other side of the room.

Crickets. There were actual cricket noises after Toni spoke, and all eyes turned to the pink haired girl.

“What? That was a joke, guys.” Toni told them.

“Betty’s ponytail is iconic and beyond reproach.” Kevin replied, utterly serious.

“You’re at an 11 right now, Kev,” Neris said, emphasizing her words with her hands as she indicated his levels. “I’m gonna need you at a two, kay?”

“Yeah, Kev. It’s fine.” Betty agreed, reaching up and pulling the elastic band from her hair. “And at this point, I’m willing to try anything.”

“Per Mrs. Paroo’s books,” Jughead began, sitting up from his spot on the couch, “I’m looking for common letter associations like T-H, A-N, I-N-G.”

“I’m looking for doubles.” Toni added. “Double L and four-letter words like kill.”

“That’s morbid.” Kevin commented.

“And the fact that you have a serial killer in your town isn’t?” Neris wondered. “I’d find it suspicious if he _didn’t_ use a variant of ‘kill’.”

“We don’t know if this thing’s even in English, guys,” Jughead went on. “I mean, this could be an anagram.”

“I’m literally on the top of my brain,” Betty struggled to pin the familiarity down.

“All right. Let’s go back to the basics.” Jughead proposed. “What do we know about this guy? Who is he?”

“He’s a white male, in his 40s,” Toni listed. “Like almost every serial killer ever.”

“No, I mean like why...why is he killing people?” Jughead corrected. “Or at least, why now?” Not so surreptitiously, Neris and Kevin gave knowing looks to Betty, who returned them with a look clearly reading ‘shut up’.

“We know the Hood's obsessed with cleansing the town of sinners and hypocrites, right?” Betty deflected. “And he seems to be attacking anyone with ties to the Northside.”

“Here we go with the fake news again.” Toni shook her head. “You Northsiders and your privilege. All you do is demonize the Southside so of course you think the Black Hood’s from there.”

“No one here actually said that,” Neris remarked, though she was largely ignored.

“It’s not demonizing, Toni. It’s stating facts.” Betty argued. “There’s way more drugs and gangs and — ”

“The drugs? You mean which were sold primarily to Northside crackheads?” Toni rebutted. “And what about the Northside Neo-Nazis? The Red Circle?” She scoffed. “The Red Psychos, you mean. Hell, Betty, I’m surprised you haven’t just come out and said it yet.”

“Said what?” Betty questioned.

“That you think the Black Hood’s a Serpent. We all know how much you hate us.” Toni finished with a meaningful glance at Jughead.

“I’m so lost,” Neris lamented, earning a sympathetic look from both Kevin and Jughead.

“Okay, Toni, that’s not true — ” Jughead attempted.

“I don’t hate the Serpents,” Betty interrupted.

“Oh, yeah?” Toni asked disbelievingly. “Then why is it that your boyfriend here lies about the fact that he sits with us at lunch?”

At least there were no crickets this time.

“I’m gonna go.” Kevin spoke first.

“Me too,” Neris agreed, knowing a very heated discussion could very well be taking place and this was not one of the times where she wanted to impose her presence.

“Yeah, you know what? I’m gonna get outta here, too,” Toni added, grabbing her things.

“Okay. I can, uh, walk you home.” Kevin offered, and Toni pinned him with an icy stare before wordlessly brushing past him and out the door. “Or you can walk me home. Um, bye, guys.”

“I’ll see you in school tomorrow, Betty,” Neris gave her a grim smile as she and Kevin followed Toni out of the trailer.

“Hey, Toni,” Neris called, jogging up to the other girl with Kevin following close behind. “For what it’s worth, in my opinion I don’t think the Black Hood is from the Southside, Serpent or otherwise.”

“Really?” Toni cocked an eyebrow, not believing her.

“Wait, what?” Kevin sputtered. “Why didn’t you say anything before?”

“Because no one asked me.” Neris stated simply. “Look, as a third party who’s completely new here and has no bias towards anyone, the way I see it is that the Black Hood is someone from the Northside.”

“You’re not joking, are you?” Toni inquired.

“Not even a little.” Neris shook her head. “Ever since I moved here, all I hear about the Southside is that it’s some kind of cesspool, and now a killer emerges from grainwork and starts targeting sinners. Logically speaking, shouldn’t the target be the Southside? But if the killer actually is from the Northside, they’d think that the Southside is beyond saving, whereas the Northside is supposed to be on this pedestal virtue and goodness and blah blah blah. Of course he’s targeting the Northside because his holier-than-thou attitude has been triggered by whatever naughtiness is occurring there.”

“Naughtiness,” Toni repeated with a laugh.

“Yeah. Adultery, drugs,” Neris listed. “Premarital sex, like that’s the biggest goddamn crime anyone could commit. If you ask me, the killer is some buttoned up guy with a boring, blue collar job. Like, a pharmacist or something.”

“I have to tell this to my dad,” Kevin marveled.

“Question is, would he believe you?” Neris wondered.

Kevin paused. “I have to at least tell him.”

“Yes you do,” Neris agreed. “Anyways, it was nice meeting you, Toni.”

“Yeah,” Toni nodded, regarding the blonde as she walked away with Kevin at her side. “You too.”

The next night, when Neris was minding her own business as she binge watched Supernatural as she enjoyed the sound of the rain outside, she was startled — her spaghetti bolognese almost flying out of its bowl — when loud, sharp knocks pounded on her door.

For a moment, her mind went wild. She imagined there was a lynch mob with actual torches and pitchforks baying for her blood. Ready to run her out of town, or worse, because they’d somehow figured what she was. And then the more rational part of her brain took over, reassuring Neris that there was no possible way anyone would’ve found out.

“We know you’re in there!” A loud male voice shouted as another volley of hits landed on her door. “Show your face you coward.”

Whoever that was, they have just started the process of pissing her off. With a huff, Neris placed her bowl on the coffee table and made her way to the door.  Once she opened it, she came face to face with someone’s chest, having to look up to see their face.

“Whoa.” It was as if her breath literally refused to stay in her lungs when she saw him.

“Where’s Andrews?” the dark haired young man demanded.

Neris blinked a couple times, not answering. “Yeah, sorry, my brain stopped working there for half a second. I’m gonna need you to say that again.”

“I said, where’s — ”

“Yeah, no, you’re actually going to have to stop talking,” she cut him off, not noticing the look of shock and anger bubbling below his expression. “Your lips are way too distracting.” She turned to one of his shorter companions. “You, tell me what it is you guys want.”

“That Andrews kid that goes to Northside,” the shorter one responded. “He’s got payback coming to him, so he better get his ass out here.”

“Okay,” Neris spoke slowly, confused. “But why are you _here_?”

“Because this is his house,” the tall one answered.

“No, this is my house,” Neris corrected.

“Are you trying to fuck with us, Northsider?” The tall one accused, stepping towards her.

“Well, we hardly know each other,” she smirked. “And, let me guess, since you called me a Northsider you guys must be from the Southside?”

“What gave it away, princess?”

“Literally nothing seeing as how I _just_ moved here and found out about this age old feud between the Northside and the Southside.” she replied. “Look, whatever you have against Archie, does it really warrant storming up to his place — assuming this actually was his place?”

“He stuck a gun in my face,” the tall one snapped.

“Oh my god; that’s why he got pulled out of class today. He’s such an idiot.” Neris breathed, closing her eyes as she sagged against her door frame. “Yeah, I can commiserate; having a gun pointed right at you is not the most fun experience.”

“Who’d want to shoot you?” The shorter one wondered.

“A surprising amount of people.”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” the tall one scoffed disbelievingly. She seemed to be getting that response quite often. “Look, are you going to tell us where he is or are we going to have to find out from someone else?”

“I’m guessing that’s an insinuation that you’re going to beat the information out of someone?” She surmised. “Whatever. I’ll tell you on one condition.”

The Southsiders in front of her scoffed, some of them crossing their arms over their chest.

“I’m not going to tell you not to fight,” she began. “That would just be ridiculous. If someone told me not to start a fight, I’d fight them out of spite and then go fight the person I originally wanted to. But when you do fight Archie, at least try not to go too hard on him...or at least not cause any lasting damage. The guy’s gone a little batshit after his dad was almost killed so a lot of his decisions are pretty skewed, and if you do cause permanent damage that’ll just fuel the vendetta the Northsiders have against you guys.”

“And what makes you think we care?” The tall one asked.

“Well, if you don’t then you might want to start,” she cautioned.”This town is already on edge; they need to barest push for them to start calling for your heads on spikes.”

“Dude, I don’t want my head on a spike,” the shorter one looked worriedly at the taller.

“No one’s getting their head on a spike,” the taller one replied, turning from his friend back to Neris. “Fine. What’s the address.”

“2037 East 3rd Avenue,” she informed him. “This is 2037 West 3rd Avenue.”

The tall one sucked on his teeth as he turned to the shorter one. “ _East_ ,” he hissed, earning a bashful look from the shorter one.

As they turned to leave, Neris called after them on impulse. “Wait, hang on.”

“What?!” The tall one snapped as he turned around.

“Could you, just once, say princess again?” She asked him as nonchalantly as she could. “You know, for science.”

From the smirk on the tall one’s face, she could guess this wasn’t the first time he’d had this effect on a girl. “Goodnight... _princess_.”

“Oh god damn,” she cursed as once again her lungs rebelled. “Goodnight boys,” she shouted as she closed the door, “have fun being violent!”


	5. Chapter 5

A knife. In Dilton Doiley’s leg. Was that her thanks for telling the serpents Archie’s address?

And the tall one...should she ask Jughead if he knew him? Was it squicky to even think he was attractive. After all, even though she was physically sixteen, she had been alive for twenty years.

Was this how vampires felt?

“Nick and I were the ‘will they or won’t they?’ of our jet set. He’s an outrageous flirt, but we never dated.” Veronica detailed her exploits to Neris and Kevin as they sat in the student lounge before school, details that Neris was all too happy to tune out. Veronica was sweet, and she was Betty’s best friend, but the poor girl had no idea how she sounded sometimes. “We’d hop from club to club, go on these madcap adventures, stay up all night…”

“Who’s this now?” Archie asked as he and Betty entered the lounge. Betty perched on the arm of the chair Kevin was sitting in as Archie plopped into the seat next to Veronica.

“Oh, Archiekins, don’t be jelly,” Veronica simpered, reaching over to pat him on the leg. “It’s just a ghost from my bad girl past, Nick St. Clair, breezing into town for the Open House. You have nothing to worry about.”

“So, what exactly is this Open House for?” Neris wondered. “You’ve only mentioned it and yet are pretty vague on the details.”

“The SoDale project,” Veronica stated simply, as if it explained everything.

“Yeah, still not ringing any bells.” Neris shrugged.

“It’s the project my dad has partnered with the Lodges on,” Archie explained.

“The Open House is to get the investors interested and their pocketbooks open,” Veronica smiled sweetly at her boyfriend.

“Is it just me, or are the actual details of the project being talked around instead of talked about?” Neris wondered aloud, but the ringing of the bell for first period cut her off.

Nersi walked alongside Betty as they made their way to class, Archie and Veronica walking ahead of them arm in arm.

“Okay, I know she’s your friend, but she used _jelly_ unironically,” Neris griped, looking over to Betty and noticing the haunted expression on her face. “Whoa, are you okay? You look like one of your ancestors just rose from the grave and slapped you across the face.”

“Wait, what?” Betty finally reacted, looking at Neris with a confused expression.

“Are you okay?” She repeated.

“Oh, yeah. Yeah, I’m fine,” Betty assured her unconvincingly.

Neris looked at her skeptically, but said nothing. She didn’t know Betty well enough yet to pry into her personal affairs; hopefully, though, Betty would come to trust Neris enough to tell her on her own.

“You said you were a vet tech in your old town, right?” Jughead asked when he called her the next day after school.

“I was, why?”

“I’m...looking after a dog. Apparently he’s number three in the long line of Serpent dogs and I just want to make sure if he’s already sick I won’t be blamed.”

“Ah, I see. You’re using me for free labor,” Neris snorted. “What kind of dog?”

“Uh...sheepdog?” Jughead sounded unsure.

“Okay, but what kind? Shetland, Iclandic, Welsh…”

“I’ll send you a picture,” Jughead conceded.

“Sounds like a plan,” Neris replied. “I need to swing by my house to pick up a few things and then I’ll come by your place?”

“Yeah, that’d be great. Thanks Neris.”

“It’s definitely for the dog and not you,” she told him, hearing him snicker on the other end of the line.

At home, she shoved her stethoscope and pen flashlight — items among other things in her ‘hardcore emergency’ medical kit — and then swung by the nearest pet store. Her phone dinged as she walked the aisle.

“Old English Sheepdog,” she mused as she looked at the photo Jughead had sent. “A very dirty one by the look of it.”

She threw some shampoo into her purchase.

Once she arrived at his trailer, Jughead was already waiting by his door.

“You!” She grabbed Jughead’s shoulders, the plastic bags dangling from her elbow jabbing her in the ribs. “There’s a Serpent; he’s tall, seems to always look like he wants to fight someone, and had James Dean-ish hair. Is he single?”

Jughead blinked. “You want to know if he’s single before you know his name?”

“Yes.”

He snorted, “His name is Sweet Pea, and I have no idea if he’s single or not.”

“Well you’re no help,” she deflated slightly. “Now you get to grab the bag in my backseat.”

“You have more stuff?” His jaw dropped slightly as his eyes darted between her and her car.

“Don’t forget to lock up,” she winked as she tossed him her car keys. Once inside, her eyes immediately locked on to Toni, seated at the small table in the trailer’s kitchen. “Oh, hey Toni.”

“Hey, Neris,” Toni greeted as warmly as she could. “Jughead and I were just studying.”

“With no books on the table?” Neris cocked her head to the side, placing the plastic bags and her large tote on the couch next to her. Right on cue a little mess of white and gray fur came trotting up to her. “And you must be my patient,” she cooed as she crouched down to pet him.

“You didn’t have to buy him food,” Jughead protested as he lugged the bag of dog food through his door.

“I did,” Neris disagreed. “Lord knows what kind of cardboard you’re feeding him. What’s his name?”

“Hot Dog,” Jughead answered, and from behind him Toni cleared her throat. “Uh, would you mind checking him out outside?”

“Outside?” Neris repeated, standing up. “Why? I won’t be too distracting from your _studying_.” She quirked a challenging eyebrow.

Jughead sighed, rubbing a hand across his face. “Neris…”

“I’m not an idiot, Jug.” Neris reminded him. “And if you don’t want to tell me the truth, I at least deserve a better lie than _studying._ ”

Jughead traded looks with Toni once more, the pink haired girl throwing varying dissenting glares at him before sighing loudly and slumping into her seat. “You can’t tell Betty,” Jughead pleaded as he turned to face Neris. She shot him a glare of her own, hers incredulous. “Please? I’m your Riverdale Stiles.”

Neris groaned. “I should’ve known that’d be used against me some day. Fine. I won’t tell.”

“I’m joining the Serpents.” Jughead confessed bracing himself for her reaction.

Neris blinked. “That’s it?”

Both Jughead and Toni seemed surprised. “You’re not mad? You’re not going to talk me out of it?”

“Yeah, you seem weirdly cool with the whole concept of the Serpents, actually,” Toni mused, suspicious.

Neris gave a half-grin as she took off her hoodie and rolled up her sleeves, not wanting to get drool on her clothes. “I had something similar back home. I mean, there was no initiation or gauntlet or anything, and I’ll freely admit that my knowledge of gang stuff comes from the movies, but the pack was my family. I know how important something like that is; the loyalty, the knowledge that you’d all die for each other, or kill for each other. It’s scary and comforting, and I get it.”

“The Pack?” Toni repeated. “Is that what you were called?”

“Is that their mark on your wrist?” Jughead added.

“Ah, that,” Neris looked down at the black mark on her right arm. “No, that’s...something else. It’s complicated. And we didn’t call ourselves the Pack. I mean, we kind of did but...it’s…”

“Complicated?” Jughead repeated. “Hey, I told you mine.”

“Yeah, but mine is a lot weirder than you’re willing to handle right now,” Neris chuckled mirthlessly. “Look, go do your pre-Serpent stuff. I’ll put my headphones in if it’s some secret passwords or stuff that I’m not allowed to know; I’ll tell you if I need to take them out.”

“Thank you,” he replied appreciatively.

“But,” Neris continued. “Betty is important to you; you shouldn’t keep her in the dark forever. In my experience, sometimes secrets can end up killing people.”

“Dark,” Toni quipped.

“Do you disagree?” Neris wondered.

Toni paused. “Sadly, I can’t.”

“Well, then there you go.”

Sticking to her word, Neris popped her earbuds in as she examined Hot Dog, only needing to take them out when she checked his lungs and heartbeat.  

“Okay,” she announced as she took her earbuds out for the final time. “The doctor is done.”

“What’s the diagnosis, doc?” Jughead leaned back in his chair.

“He’s fine,” she declared. “He’s not overweight, though you should watch his food intake cause if this breed gains too much they can develop glaucoma and diabetes. One rounded cup of food in the morning and one in the evening. Give him treats sparingly and if you _must_ give him people food, I suggest blueberries, strawberries, pineapples, peas, carrots, pumpkin and sweet potatoes. No goddamn grapes, raisins, cherries, avocados and nothing that has garlic or onions on it! Oh, yeah, there’s two bags of treats I got for you — one is regular treats that you can give him _sparingly_ and the other are dental treats. Those he gets once a day. ”

“Sir, yes sir,” Jughead mock saluted.

“His joints seem fine, his teeth are fine, his heart and breathing are fine.” She shrugged. “Overall, without being able to do a blood test or see his records to check if his shots are up to date, he seems like a healthy dog. So, I hate to break it to you, Jughead, but if he dies it’s your fault.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” he snorted.

“You’re welcome,” she grinned, standing and packing her things. “I know there’s not a whole lot I can do without having access to an actual vet office, but if he starts looking unwell just let me know and I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thank you, Neris,” Jughead told her as he opened the door for her. “I mean it. For everything.”

“Just don’t make me regret it,” she gave him a withering stare.

“No promises.”

“Oh my god, you _are_ Stiles,” she groaned as she threw her head back in despair, trudging out the door to the sound of Jughead’s laughter.

She stood by her car, fishing for her keys in her bag. She knew they were in there — she saw Jughead throw them in — but it seemed they had been swallowed by the vortex at the bottom of the bag.

“Hey, No-sider,” she heard from behind her, and turned to see Sweet Pea and his short companion strutting up to her. An angry looking bruise had developed around his eye. “What are you doing on our side of town?”

“Ooh, nice shiner.” She winced. “I heard the fight got a little...out of hand.”

“We didn’t stab the little twerp,” Sweet Pea snapped. “He stabbed himself.”

Neris paused. “What, like on purpose? Or was he planning on using the knife on someone else and fell on it? Cause I’ve seen the kid and honestly either scenario is entirely possible.”

“What, you believe us?” The short one asked. “Just like that?”

“Well, what do you have to gain by lying? And, for the record, I’m not sure ‘No-sider’ is an improvement from princess, but you don’t know my name yet so I’ll forgive you.” Neris replied. “And to answer your earlier question, Jughead asked me to come over and look at Hot Dog to make sure he’s fit and healthy.”

“What, are you some kind of vet?” The short one asked.

“Some kind, yeah,” she gave a soft laugh and smirked. “Don’t worry, I’ll be out of your hair as soon as I find my keys. Oh, I forgot to tell Jughead about the shampoo. Would you tell him for me, Sweet Pea?”

Her grin grew wider at the look of surprise on his face. “How do you know my name?” He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Neris shrugged. “I asked; Jughead answered.”

“I’m Fangs,” the shorter one offered.

“That’s nice,” Neris remarked.

“Why’d you ask?” Sweet Pea pressed.

“What can I say? Tall, dark, and handsome shows up on my doorstep looking all angry and wanting to hit something? I was interested. Aha!” She pulled her keys from her bag with a flourish. “Found them!”

She unlocked her door and tossed her bag into the passenger seat.

“Later, Fangs. Bye Sweet Pea.” She smiled a the two in front of her.

“What’s your name?” Sweet Pea asked, making her pause as she lowered herself into the driver’s seat.

“I had to ask Jughead for yours,” she smiled sweetly at him. “It’s only fair you ask him for mine.”

The things Neris did for her friends. One day she’s giving an impromptu physical to a dog for Jughead and the next day she’s attending a party she absolutely did not want to be at for Betty. And Veronica. And Archie. And Kevin.

With all of them asking her to attend, she’d be a real asshole if she said no. After all, she’d been to parties before…

...and she disliked this one far more intensely than she had the ones back in her own dimension. If she could’ve, she would’ve punched Nick St. Clair’s smarmy jaw off his weasley face the moment she met him.

“Hey,” he greeted, grease dripping off his every word as he sidled up next to Neris before the party got into full swing. “You’re from Veronica’s school too, right? It’s a shame I didn’t get to meet such a beauty when I dropped by earlier.”

“Okay,” Neris groaned, fighting the bile that threatened to rise as she turned to face Nick, the purple ring around her iris growing to cover the expanse of her pupil. “You will not talk to me or even touch me. Ever.”

Nick’s eyes were momentarily glazed over as Neris’ manipulation took effect. As soon as it had sunk in, he immediately moved back towards Veronica, acting as if Neris never existed.

Stupid rich little fuckboy thinking the world deserved to be served to him on a silver platter. She huffed as she plopped down next to Betty on one of the couches in Nick’s suite at the Five Seasons.

Veronica turned on some upbeat music to get the mood up as the rest of her social circle arrived, and soon Nick was regaling everyone with stories full of dropped names.

“And then, we walk into the Gilded Lily, and there’s Gal! Again!”

Veronica chuckled, and Neris couldn’t tell if it was just politeness or if it was a genuine laugh.

“Gal?” Archie repeated, confused.

“Gadot,” Cheryl clarified icily. “Keep up, Archie.”

“Did he throw out his back dropping that name?” Neris muttered, hearing Betty’s light chuckle beside her. Apparently she wasn’t too fond of the young St. Clair either.

“Archiekins,” Veronica held her glass to her boyfriend, doe eyes on full display. “A refill, s’il vous plait?”

“Forget the teetotaling,” Nick opened his jacket to reveal multiple Pixie Stix in his coat’s interior pocket. “Let’s move on to something with a little more kick.”

“Is that — ” Cheryl looked at the tiny paper tubes with furrowed eyebrows.

“Jinglejangle?” Nick finished for her, pulling one out. “Why, yes; it is.”

“I hooked him up,” Reggie announced proudly.

“Tasters?” Nick beckoned as he stood. “Who’s up first?”

“Dude, we told you,” Archie looked at him disapprovingly. “We’re not — ”

“Archie,” Nick interrupted, “don’t take this the wrong way, but you are an epic buzzkill.” He chuckled as he turned to Veronica. “Come on, V,” he held out the stick entreatingly. “Like back in the day. Aren’t you supposed to be showing me a good time? Per Daddy’s orders?”

Veronica’s expression dropped slightly as her gaze swept over her collection of friends. “Down, Nicky,” she turned back to him, the cool facade returning. “I’m just getting going. And now that you mention it, I, in fact, wouldn't mind a little sugar to spice up this party.”

Nick chuckled as she took the tube of Jinglejangle from him. Veronica noticed the looks her friends, and Archie more notably, we giving her.

“What?” She protested with a small chuckle. “Every other night it’s burgers and milkshakes. Can’t we just cut loose and pretend we’re normal, for once?”

“I’m in,” Cheryl stated, grabbing her own stick.

“Me, too,” Reggie nodded.

“Kevin?” Cheryl offered a stick to Kevin, which he took with a smile.

“Pussycats, care to partake?” Nick offered, which they accepted with synchronized nods.

“Betty?” Veronica offered.

“No, thanks.” Betty answered softly.

“Come on, it’ll be fun.” Veronica pleaded.

“I said no, V.” Betty’s voice was stronger.

“Okay, relax, Betty, this is strictly voluntary.” Veronica rolled her eyes. “What about you Neris?”

“No. And by that, I mean no,” Neris answered. “You have no idea what’s in that shit. It could be rat poison for all you know.”

That, and it probably wouldn’t even work on Neris thanks to her supernaturally advanced state. The drug would get filtered out before it even got the chance to take effect even if she did take it. But, Neris couldn’t very well admit that. Not to mention, she really _didn’t_ know what was in Jinglejangle. There could be something in there harmless to humans — relatively speaking — and deadly to a supernatural creature. She couldn’t risk it.

“Perhaps we should decamp to the bedroom,” Nick suggested, sliding closer to Veronica, “so as not to corrupt the country mice.”

“You know what?” Archie declared after taking a hearty swig of his drink, sitting next to Veronica. “I changed my mind. I’m in.”

Neris could feel Betty sigh in despair beside her.

“Bravo, Archie Andrews!” Nick grinned. “There’s that good, strong Riverdale stock I’ve been jonesing for!”

Veronica smiled, taking Archie’s hand in hers. Not standing on ceremony, those who had decided to take Jinglejangle — namely, everyone save for Neris and Betty — ripped open the top of the paper tube and poured the contents into their mouths. The music was cranked up louder, inhibitions we lowered, kisses got sloppier, and Betty looked more and more uncomfortable.

“Are you okay?” Neris leaned over to her. “We don’t have to stay if you don’t want to. I will totally leave with you if you want.”

“Come on, Betty, don’t be such a wallflower!” Veronica danced up to her, stopping any possible answer Betty could’ve given to Neris. She took Betty’s hands in hers and tried to pull her on the makeshift dance floor. “You’re boyfriendless for a night! Have some fun!”

Betty ripped her hands away. “Like you, you mean? I was gonna say you’re making a fool of yourself. Just acting like some privileged, shallow, airhead party girl.”

Veronica chuckled out of awkward surprise. “Excuse me?”

“Yeah.” Betty snapped as she stood. “I mean, it’s all recycled banter and plunging necklines and throwing shade to distract us all from the fact that there’s really nothing going on underneath.”

“Betty, what the hell are you saying?” Archie interrogated.

“What we’re all thinking,” Betty replied sharply. “That the only reason Veronica hangs out with us is circumstance. She’s not our friend. The minute someone from her trashy past shows up, she starts using us for drugs or music or distraction, and why should we be surprised? Like father, like daughter, right?”

“You better shut it down, Betty,” Veronica warned.

“Or what, Veronica?” Betty returned, shortening the distance between the two of them. “You’ll have your dad put a hit on me? Or maybe you’ll do it yourself, because you may have fooled all of them, but not me. Try to reform all you want, but you’re a bad person, Veronica. You’ll always be a bad person.”

“Why don’t you just go, then, if I’m such a monster?” Veronica wondered coldly.

Without a word, Betty turned and walked out of the suite, grabbing her sweater as she left.

“Yeah,” Neris drawled in the silence left in Betty’s wake. “As much fun as this party isn’t, I’m gonna go too. See you at school, cokeheads.”

Neris made her way out of the suite, barely catching Betty at the elevator.

“Hey, are you okay?” She asked as the elevator descended. “I mean, I wasn’t having fun either, but that kind of came out of nowhere.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Betty protested softly.

“I’m not asking you to talk about it,” Neris clarified. “I’m asking if you’re okay.”

“Of course I’m not okay,” Betty gave a choked sob.

“Do you want me to take you home? I know you came over with Archie.”

“No,” Betty shook her head. “I need to walk to clear my head. The night air might help.”

“Have you talked to your girlfriend lately?” Neris asked, leaning against the edge of the counter in Jughead’s trailer.

“Yesterday morning,” he replied. “Why.”

“Well last night she had some kind of meltdown and freaked out on Veronica,” she told him. “I mean, to be honest it was kind of amazing but she looks like the walking dead. Something is eating at her and I don’t have enough of her trust to wrangle it out of her.”

“And yet you have no trouble at all wrangling info from me,” Jughead smirked. “But yeah, I’ll talk to her tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Neris quirked an eyebrow. “Why not tonight?”

“Tonight I have this...thing,” Jughead explained vaguely. “Look, Neris, I appreciate you coming over, but you have to go.”

“Okay, but why are you…” Neris trailed off, studying the expression on Jughead’s face before the realization sunk in. “Am I right in thinking that the final stage of your initiation into Serpenthood is a gauntlet of some kind?”

“Yes, and you can’t be here for it.” He pressed.

“Probably not, but I’m going to anyways.”

“Neris…”

“Listen, I’m going to say this as vaguely as I can,” she interjected. “I’ve been on the receiving end of my fair share of violence. I was once strapped to a chair and tortured for who knows how long, for god’s sake.”

“Oh my god,” Jughead blanched. “By who?”

She winced; she hadn’t actually intended to say that out loud. “Doesn’t matter; they’re both dead. The point is, I’ve dealt with some pretty serious battle wounds. Not just mine, but my friends’, too. If you’re doing the gauntlet thing tonight, you’re going to need someone here to patch you up afterwards that knows what they’re doing, medically speaking. I can reset bones and stitch up wounds so they’re barely a scar. You know better than I how far they’re gonna go, so you tell me. You want me here or not?”

Jughead sighed, his expression twisting as he weighed his options. “Yeah,” he finally nodded. “Yeah, okay. I think you probably should.”

“Okay, I’ll get my kit from my car.”

“You have a medical kit in your car?” Jughead raised an eyebrow. “Like, beyond the junior vet stuff you brought over for Hot Dog?”

Neris snorted. “When you’ve been through what I have, you learn to be prepared for anything.”

Jughead and Neris walked out of the trailer, only to be met with a grim looking Archie.

“Archie,” Jughead breathed taken aback.

“We gotta talk, Jug.” Archie told him.

“Uh, now is really not a good time, okay?” Jughead spoke quickly as he descended the wooden stairs of his trailer, Neris weaving around him to grab her kit from her trunk. “You need to leave, okay? You gotta go. I’m serious man, you’re just gonna have — ”

“Why, what’s going on?” Archie wondered, and as if on cue Sweet Pea led a group of Serpents up to the trailer.

“What the hell do we have here?” Sweet Pea wondered gruffly, eyeing Archie.

“Just leave him, all right?” Jughead ordered.

“Wait, you’re friends with these thugs?” Archie spat.

“It’s not what you think.” Jughead spoke lowly.

“Are you joining the Serpents?” Archie pressed.

“If he survives,” Sweet Pea corrected, “and go ahead and call us thugs one more time.” With a growl, Sweet Pea advanced on Archie but was held back by Jughead.

“Jughead, these are the guys who attacked me.” Archie reminded him loudly. “Who attacked Reggie, and Veronica and Dilton. Your friends.”

“Dilton stabbed himself,” Neris corrected disdainfully as she carried her medical kit and set it on Jughead’s porch steps.

“Wait, is that why you’re here?” Jughead questioned. “To warn me?”

“No, I came here to tell you to stay away from Betty.” Archie told him. “She doesn’t want to see you anymore.”

“Whoa, what?” Neris’ jaw dropped.

“Screw you, I just saw Betty yesterday,” Jughead argued, glancing over at Neris. “She was fine.”

“No, dude. She’s been wanting to break up with you for weeks.” Archie replied. “She’s been agonizing over it. Since you crossed the dark side she couldn’t bring herself to do it.”

“So, she sent you?” Jughead scoffed. “Betty would never do that!”

“If you don’t believe me, then call her,” Archie urged forcefully. “And feel free to tell her you’re a Serpent now, too. I bet she’ll love that. She saw where you were headed, Jughead. Okay? We all did and she knows you can’t be with them and with her. Come on, man. You know it, too.”

Jughead was silent, and Neris could see his heart breaking in front of her. “Tell Betty I got the message,” he told Archie coldly.

“Yeah,” Archie answered lamely, brushing past Jughead and making his way back to his car.

Cracking his neck to relieve even the smallest amount of tension, Jughead turned to face the crowd behind him. “What?” He snapped. “Did you enjoy the show?”

“The show hasn’t even started yet,” Sweet Pea replied. “All we need is for the princess to leave and we can get going.”

“Oh no,” Neris shook her head. “I’m staying. Rules of secrecy aside, if you’re gonna beat a man half to death and don’t actually want him to die then you’re gonna need someone keep him alive. That’s me.”

“Look, just because you can take care of a dog — ”

“You have _no_ idea what I can do, Sweet Pea. And that’s not even an innuendo.” Neris snapped.

“She stays.” Jughead decided.

“You don’t get to make that decision,” Sweet Pea informed him. “Tall Boy does. If he says she leaves, she leaves.”

“Five bucks says he won’t,” Neris smirked.

“Deal,” Sweet Pea returned the gesture.

Wordlessly, he led the group to the location where the gauntlet would be held as evening slowly melted into night. Neris held the bulky medical kit in one hand as she walked, and jumped slightly when Fangs appeared next to her.

“Here, let me carry that for you,” he offered.

“Oh, no, you don’t have to,” she protested gently, but he ignored her and slid the kit from her hand.

“Whoa,” he breathed, his stance dipping slightly as the weight hit him.

“Yeah,” she chuckled. “I’m deceptively strong. I can take that back from you if you want.”

“No no,” Fangs shook his head, readjusting his stance to better hold the weight of the kit. “I’m fine.”

She noticed the glance Sweet Pea sent their way over his shoulder, but she remained silent. For now. They finally arrived at a clearing near a rundown warehouse, a few more Serpents waiting for them to arrive.

“Tall Boy,” Sweet Pea called to one of the Serpents, a tall grizzled man with long, light brown hair and a short trimmed beard.

“Yeah?” Tall Boy asked gruffly.

Sweet Pea pointed to Neris, “Jughead’s friend thinks she can stay. What do _you_ say?”

As Sweet Pea was talking, Neris walked closer to Tall Boy; mental manipulation worked best when she was looking them in the eyes. Tall Boy looked at her, scoffing. Yet as he opened his mouth to tell her to leave, Neris spoke first.

“You’re going to let me stay,” she told him, her eyes turning purple as she used her mental manipulation for the second time that week. Drawing the purple back to the small ring around her pupil, Neris continued. “Jughead is my friend and all I want is to make sure his injuries are looked at properly once you’re done with him. That’s all.”

Tall Boy was silent for a moment. “She can stay.”

There were a few protests, but Tall Boy’s word was final. Noticing Toni camped out nearby, Neris took her medical kit from Fangs with a soft thanks and made her way over to Toni — reminding Sweet Pea that he now owed her five bucks as she sat.

Surprisingly, Fangs wasn’t a part of the line up of the gauntlet. Instead, he joined Tall Boy, Toni and Neris on the sidelines as the remaining Serpents gathered into two straight lines. Jughead stood on one end and Sweet Pea on the other, the dark-haired Serpent slipping brass knuckles onto his fingers.

Jughead couldn’t fight back, so as he walked down the path towards Sweet Pea, he had to suffer one powerful punch after another. Each one hit a different part of his body, and Neris winced as she kept a mental catalogue of each. Some of them threw him off balance, though he always righted himself and carried on until he finally reached Sweet Pea.

“Is that all you got?” Jughead asked, his speech garbled from the blood in his mouth.

Sweet Pea’s lips drew back into a snarl and he reared back, delivering a massive punch that instantly knocked Jughead to the ground. Seconds felt like hours, but with heavy groans propelling him upward, Jughead stood defiantly in front of Sweet Pea, stumbling on his feet slightly.

Out of respect, Sweet Pea lifted his hand and shook Jughead’s, other Serpents congratulating him as Toni handed him his Serpents jacket.

“Okay, yeah, happy days,” Neris broke in, pulling out her phone as she walked over to Jughead, turning on the flashlight app to inspect his face. “Well, you’re not going to need reconstructive surgery but you’re gonna be swollen for a couple days. You can celebrate later; right now I want to check those ribs. Toni, can you grab me some ice?”

“Uh, yeah,” Toni nodded. “Sure.”

Jughead groaned as Neris helped him sit down on some wooden crates nearby.

“Can someone hold this for me?” Neris asked, holding her phone out. It was taken gently from her hands, and she glanced over to see Sweet Pea was holding it up for her. “Fangs, take this gauze and soak it in the saline solution,” Neris instructed, pointing to the bottle in question. “That bottle. _Gently_ dab the cuts on his face, but don’t drip it in his eyes, okay?”

Fangs nodded briskly, jumping into action and looking somewhat proud to be put to use like that.

“Jughead, I’m going to lift up your shirt to see what’s going on, okay?”

Jughead nodded, wincing as he adjusted his position to better allow her to lift the bloodstained fabric. Already bruises were starting to form. Gently, she placed her hands on his ribcage. “Turn left, slowly,” she instructed. Grimacing in pain, Jughead complied. “And turn right slowly.” He repeated the action in similar fashion. “Well, I can’t feel any clicking or shifting so I think they’re just bruised, but if you feel _any_ worsening pain when you breathe I want you to go straight to the hospital. Fuck the cost. If your ribs are broken a fragment could puncture your lungs.”

“Got it,” Jughead replied, wincing away with a cry. “Fangs! She said gently!”

“Sorry!”

Neris reached up and placed her fingers gently behind Jughead’s jaw, gingerly spidering them along his jawline. “Open your mouth for me,” she requested, as Jughead complied. “Any unbearable pain or numbness in your gums?”

Jughead closed his mouth. “No numbness, and it hurts but it’s not unbearable.”

“Okay, good. And you’re not too swollen yet, but keep it iced — five minutes on, five minutes off — so that the swelling stays down. You’re also gonna want to ice your ribs and that knot on the top of your head.”

“I got the ice,” Toni said, coming up to her with an ice pack in hand.

“Perfect timing; thanks, Toni,” she smiled softly as she took the ice pack from her and held it out to Jughead. “Where do you want it first? Ribs, jaw, or forehead.”

“Jaw for now,” Jughead decided, taking the pack from her and placing it gingerly on the right side of his jaw.

“Fangs, you about done?” Neris wondered.

“Yeah, but what do I do with this?” Fans wondered, holding up the blood soaked gauze.

“Just toss it,” Neris shrugged. “But remember to wash your hands.” As Fangs left she grabbed the tube of antibacterial ointment and dabbed it lightly on his facial wounds. “As for you, keep putting this stuff on and bandage it. Contrary to popular belief, covered wounds heal faster.”

“I think I’ll be fine, but thanks.” Jughead smiled weakly.

Neris screwed the cap back onto the tube in silence before she spoke once more. “Do you want me to talk to Betty at school tomorrow?”

“No,” Jughead answered curtly. “She made it pretty clear how she felt. You said it yourself she was acting weird. This is why.”

Neris sighed, taking her phone back from Sweet Pea. “Thanks,” she gave him a grim smile which he returned with a short nod. “Okay,” Neris turned to face the three Serpents surrounding Jughead. “I’ve done pretty much all I can. I’ll leave the antibacterial with you. Remember, any numbness in your mouth or bad pain in your chest when you breathe — ”

“Go to the hospital,” Jughead finished for her. “I got it.”

Neris turned to Toni. “Drag him there if you have to.”

Toni snorted. “Sure.”

“Alright, I’ll see you later,” Neris grabbed her kit and began to leave. “Oh, Sweet Pea,” she turned around and walked backwards as she spoke. “Put that stuff on your knuckles and ice them too, kay?”

“Uh, sure?” He responded, somewhat confused as he watched her turn and walk away into the darkness.

“Sweet Pea’s got a girlfriend,” Toni teased once Neris was out of earshot.

“Shut up, Topaz,” he rolled his eyes and swatted at her. “What’s her name, anyways?”   


	6. Chapter 6

Neris had been strong-armed into attending the intervention/interrogation at the Cooper house after the events at the Lodge’s Open House. The St. Clair sleazeball had roofied Cheryl and had Veronica, Josie, and the Pussycats not stepped in and apparently beaten the crap out of him, he probably would’ve gone through with the disgusting plan he had in mind. The douche was lucky Neris hadn’t been there. It probably wouldn’t do well for the town’s nerves if Nick’s severed head showed up in his parents’ hotel bed.

With Nick in custody, Sheriff Keller and Mayor McCoy were setting their suspicious eyes on all those who had attended his and Veronica’s party at the Five Seasons.

“Riverdale’s best and brightest, huh?” Alive pursed her lips as she set refreshments down on the coffee table, looking disdainfully at the teens gathered in her living room.

“Alice, thank you for hosting,” Mayor McCoy smiled as sweetly as she could at the woman.

“Of course, Mayor McCoy,” Alice went on. “When I heard what happened at Nick’s party, I decided that we should come together to deal with this motley crew of liars, dope-fiends, and fornicators. Except for my Betty, who was smart enough to leave the party before it descended into a bacchanalian free for all, and thankfully convinced our newest resident to leave with her.”

“Oh, my god,” Betty cringed. “Mom, please don’t.”

“Yeah, it’s not like I have a mind of my own,” Neris muttered, folding her arms across her chest.

“Here we go,” Veronica snipped. “Saint Betty and Succubus Veronica.”

“So, this is for clarity, Alice.” Fred Andrews interjected. “You’re hosting this little get-together to what? Gloat?”

“You know, I may have taken Jinglejangle, but she’s the one who had a psychotic break,” Veronica hissed.

“Cut her some slack, Veronica,” Archie whispered. “She just broke up with Jughead.”

“Hashtag Bughead is no more?” Kevin leaned over. “And Betty didn’t tell me?”

“She didn’t even have the decency to do it in person,” Neris whispered spitefully. “She did it through a messenger. Real class act.”

Alice cleared her throat, breaking up their little chat.

“Careful throwing stones there, acid-queen Alice,” Hiram spoke levelly. “I’m not the only one in this room that knows the story behind that mugshot that your daughter printed in her paper.”

Ah, yes. The mugshot that showed Alice Cooper — Riverdale’s loudest opponent of the Southside Serpents  — had once been a Serpent herself. Betty had published it the day before Nick’s party, yet it didn’t seem to have knocked Alice off her high horse.

“Well I, for one, would like to know who brought the Jinglejangle to the party,” Mrs’ Lodge spoke up.

There was silence, no one confessing, until Reggie reluctantly raised his hand. His mother, sitting beside him, promptly grabbed his arm and pulled it down.

“Reginald, not a single word out of your mouth until we get a lawyer,” his mother advised him curtly.

“No, all Reggie needs to tell us, Melinda, is how he acquired it,” Hiram informed her.

“Some gang member who deals on the Southside,” Reggie replied.

“Oh, my God, you have a dealer?” His mother balked.

“Once again, Mayor, the Southside is the source of all our problems,” Hiram announced.

“Was he a Serpent?” Keller questioned Reggie. “Does he go to Southside High?”

Reggie shrugged. “I think so, yeah.”

“What does it matter?” Archie wondered. “Not all Serpents are drug dealers.”

“Archie, not helping,” his dad said brusquely.

“Look, we shouldn’t have taken the JJ, but Nick’s the one who asked Reggie to get it and then pushed it on us,” Veronica defended. “He’s the one who should be in the hot seat. I mean, he’s the one who roofied Cheryl and tried to assault her.”

“Prosecuting Nick St. Clair would be difficult given that all witnesses were high,” Keller told her.

“Yeah, but Josie and I saw Nick with Cheryl the night after the party, and neither of us were on Jingle Jangle.” Veronica protested.

“The drug stays in your system for three days,” Keller went on. “So if I drug tested you right now, you’d have a credibility problem.”

“Josie, you took that drug?” Mayor McCoy asked her daughter, disappointed. “You put that poison in your system, knowing the way your father’s struggled with addiction?” Josie said nothing, but her small nod spoke volumes. “I see,” Mayor McCoy stood, her posture squared and resigned. “From this moment on, bringing the Southside under control is my number one priority as mayor. If it means razing it to the ground or arresting every single Serpent in sight, starting at that high school, so be it.” She drew in a steadying breath through her nose and looked to her daughter. “Let’s go, Josephine. Now!”

With Mayor McCoy leaving — talking furtively with Sheriff Keller as she walked out the door, Josie trailing close behind — Neris knew that she’d follow through with her promise to purge the Southside of the Serpents.

It didn’t matter that they weren’t the problem — for some reason the Northside seemed content to completely ignore the fact that the Serpents weren’t the only people in the Southside and that any one of the residents could be the source of the drugs. As soon as the teens had been released from the Cooper house interrogation, Neris made a beeline for her car.

She pressed her phone to her ear, calling Jughead, as she slid into the driver’s seat of her car, only for it to drop to her lap when she saw Archie get into the passenger’s seat.

“What the hell are you doing?” Neris demanded.

“You’re going to Southside High to warn Jughead, right?” Archie questioned. “I’m going with you.”

“Like hell you are,” Neris put her phone back to her ear. Voicemail. “Out.”

“Neris, I’m going with you,” Archie argued, putting on his suitcase.

“You’re the one who turned your back on Jughead the moment he made a choice you didn’t agree with!” Neris snapped. “And now you’re acting like that never happened so you can swoop in like a hero and save him? What the hell is wrong with you?”

“You can yell at me all you want, but we need to go now!” Archie countered. “Mayor McCoy and Sheriff Keller are probably already gathering officers to storm Southside High right now. We need to get there first.”

Neris groaned loudly but didn’t have a good argument, and so she ripped away from the curb and drove quickly to Southside High. She had to have Archie give her directions, so his presence in her car wasn’t a total annoyance. Both she and Archie tried to call Jughead, but since he was probably in class he wasn’t answering. As they pulled into the parking lot, Archie sent a text to Jughead — his final attempt to contact Jughead — before they rushed into the school and searched the hallways for Jughead. Neris was keeping an eye out for Toni, Sweet Pea, and Fangs to warn them as well, but found none of them.

The finally found Jughead outside of Southside High’s newspaper’s office, looking at his phone presumably at the text Archie had sent.

“Jug! Jug!” Archie shouted, running up to Jughead with Neris hot on his heels, grabbing his shoulder. “We gotta go, right now.”

“What the hell are you doing here?” Jughead demanded, shoving Archie's hand away. “Betty ask you to throw some salt in the wound?”

“No, Jughead, this is serious,” Neris informed him hurriedly.

“Mayor McCoy’s about to raid Southside High,” Archie told him. “We gotta get you out of here, right now, come on.”

The doors at the end of the hallway burst open; Sheriff Keller, Mayor McCoy, and an army of cops barged through them, drug sniffing dogs in tow. Mayor McCoy pointed left and right at any student that had the Serpent logo anywhere on their clothes, whether on their shirt or jacket.

Archie grabbed Jughead’s jacket and pulled him away from the oncoming horde of officers. Toni walked right into their path, turning when she heard her name shouted from behind her.

“Toni!” Jughead shouted, trying to break away to get her out as well, but Archie stopped him with a firm arm around his torso.

“Hey! Hey! Hey! Jug, you wanna help her?” Archie shouted. “You can’t do that from behind bars. Come on.”

Archie and Neris pulled Jughead through the red Emergency Exit door, watching helplessly through the smudged window as Sweet Pea and Toni and countless other Serpent associates were arrested.

“Jughead, we need to get you out of here,” Neris pulled him away from the window. “Mayor McCoy might not know you’re a Serpent, but she knows you have ties to them. She won’t care that you’re not wearing the logo. Come on.”

They relocated to Pop’s — apparently it was the only place in town besides Jughead’s trailer that they could talk.

“Jughead, calm down,” Archie cautioned his friend as Jughead paced up and down the aisle by their table.

“Calm down? Archie, Riverdale just became a police state,” Jughead shouted.

“McCoy’s convinced the Serpents are dealing jinglejangle,” Archie explained.

“Serpents don’t deal that stuff,” Jughead informed him. “The Ghoulies do.”

“The hell kind of name is ‘the Ghoulies’?” Neris mumbled.

“So, tell Mayor McCoy that,” Archie reasoned, ignoring her.

“Oh, Mayor McCoy,” Jughead scoffed, sliding into the booth across from Archie and Neris. “Do you mean the McCoy that just arrested all my friends for no reason? Why do you care anyway, man? I thought you and Betty wanted nothing to do with me, right?”

“Look, I’m sorry about what happened, and how it happened,” Archie apologized. “And as for Betty, you should maybe talk to her.”

Jughead’s phone chimed. “I gotta go. Tall Boy wants to parley.”

He shifted out of the booth and wordlessly left, not sparing either of them a glance as he passed them.

“Talk to Mayor McCoy? That’s your genius plan?” Neris scoffed. “You live in a bubble, don’t you Andrews?”

“But if we tell them that the Serpents aren’t the problem — ”

“Then nothing will change,” Neris interrupted him. “This isn’t about right and wrong, Archie. It’s about control. I’ve seen this before, granted not in the same exact circumstances. They just want a scapegoat to pin all the problems of Riverdale on, guilty or not.”

That night, at Jughead’s behest, Neris and Archie met him at his trailer. They both despaired at the fact that they’d gotten community service, even though Neris hadn’t even taken Jinglejangle. Apparently Betty hadn’t been spared the punishment, either.

Jughead, on the other hand, was having a far worse evening.

“This isn’t an alliance with the Ghoulies,” Jughead ranted after telling Archie and Neris about his meeting with Tall Boy at the Ghoulie hangout. “This is a hostile takeover. God, who knows how long Tall Boy has been planning on betraying us. Maybe I stall, just until Sweet Pea and Toni get out. I just hope they’d rather go to war with the Ghoulies than start…”

“Jughead,” Archie interjected gently.

“...dealing jingle-jangle.”

“You joined the Serpents to keep the peace.” Archie stated.

“My dad would never sit back and let this happen, so, neither will I.” Jughead asserted. “So, unless you have any better ideas…”

“Not me.” Archie leaned forward in his seat. “But, dude, what you just said — ”

“What, you mean Jughead’s dad?” Neris wondered. “You think he’d have an idea?”

“It’s worth a shot,” Archie shrugged.

Neris turned to Jughead. “How soon can we get in to see your dad?”

“I don’t know you,” was the first thing Jughead’s dad said as he sat down in front of them at their visitation the next day, staring right at Neris.

“Uh, hi,” she gave him a small wave, taking the handset from Archie to introduce herself. “I’m Neris; I’m a new friend.”

“She’s trustworthy,” Jughead vouched for her. “Dad, we need your help”

“Start from the beginning, boys.” FP prompted.

And so Jughead launched into the explanation of everything that had gone down in the past few days — from Mayor McCoy’s raid on the high school to Tall Boy’s machinations. His dad’s expression became more and more discouraged as Jughead spoke.

“Hey, you can reprimand me for joining the Serpents later, but if we don’t do something now there will be no more Serpents,” Jughead told his dad. “It’ll just be the Ghoulies.”

FP responded by slamming the headset against the shatterproof divider, causing Jughead to back down. “Ghoulies dress like fops, but they’re a nasty crew.” FP explained. “The Serpents have survived worse, though. Much worse. The only hitch is, it sounds like you’re outmanned which means you gotta avoid bloodshed at all costs.”

“I agree,” Archie voiced. “A hundred percent.”

“Could we incite some kind of mutiny within their ranks?” Neris proposed. “I mean, how loose is their concept of loyalty? It seems like they’re only concerned about drug running.”

“If we had more time that could be a possibility, but that’s a luxury we don’t have,” FP replied. “So, out-think them. This is about territory. If there’s one thing Ghoulies love, it’s their crazy souped-up retro cars and hearses. You catch my Riverdale _drift_ , boys?” He was met with blank stares from Archie and Jughead. Neris could barely hear from her place beside Archie as they shared a headset, but she had an idea of what he was alluding to. FP, seeing his hint wasn’t going anywhere, spoke more plainly. “Challenge them to a street race, one-on-one,” he whispered into his headset. “But keep it on the DL. It’s illegal. It’ll get you locked up.”

“Go on,” Jughead prompted.

“Set the terms of the race.” FP elaborated. “Their guy wins, the Serpents roll over.”

“But if we win,” Jughead realized, “the Ghoulies back off.”

“And maybe you raise the stakes.” FP furthered. “Whoever wins controls Southside High.”

“We get rid of the Ghoulies and get rid of the jingle-jangle and get McCoy off our back.” Jughead concluded, earning a proud look from his father.

“You just have to make sure you win,” Neris voiced, earning glares of contempt for her realism. She shrunk back in her seat. “Sorry.”

Pickens Park became the setting where the attendees of Nick St. Clair’s party were forced to do their mandatory community service. Each teen had been outfitted with blue vests and gloves, neon green trash bags, and thankfully trash claws to pick up things no one would dare touch even when wearing gloves.

“Pickens Park?” Veronica quipped as she and Kevin teamed up. “More like Needle Park.”

“I wouldn’t even go cruising here,” Kevin remarked.

Reggie, attempting to have a little fun with his punishment, threw something in the nearby trash can. It whizzed in front of Josie, causing to look up from her phone and over at him, obviously annoyed.

“Hey, uh, feel free to, you know, pitch in,” He snarked at her. “I get you’re pretty much Beyonce, but today, you’re just like us commoners.”

“I think your biceps can handle it, Mantle,” Josie returned.

“You trying to get me to flex?” he flirted.

“Josie,” Veronica sidled up to her. “You mind if I borrow Reggie for a New York minute?”

“Please,” Josie rolled her eyes. “Take him.”

“Love watching me walk away, huh?” Reggie teased, swinging the trash claw over his shoulder as Veronica walked closer to him.. “What do you want, Veronica? We were kind of in the middle of something.”

“I want the name of your jinglejangle contact,” she demanded, “and I won’t take no for an answer.”

“Betty, you have to talk to Jughead,” Archie told her.

“Soon, I promise,” she replied. “I just need to take care of a few things.”

“Archie,” Neris pulled him away from Betty to have their own private conversation. “What’s Jughead doing to do about the race? I mean, does he even have a car? FP said the Ghoulies — which, I have to say is the worst and least intimidating name for a gang in the history of stupid things I’ve heard — love retro cars. They’re gonna want to race against one.”

“Reggie has a car like that, but I don’t even know if it’ll run.” Archie sighed.

“Forget run,” Neris scoffed. “He hates the Southside, although he conveniently forgets that when he wants to buy drugs. What makes you think he’ll loan Jughead his car to help the Serpents?”

“Because it’ll be a chance for him to show off,” Archie replied. “Reggie won’t be able to resist that.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there's a shit ton of Teen Wolf-related exposition. Sorry...

Days later, the Ghoulies and the Serpents gathered on the Southside for the drag race to end all drag races. For some reason, it was deemed a good idea to have Cheryl and Kevin also in attendance. Reggie was understandable — it was his car after all — but the others? The logic was failing her.

“All right,” Tall Boy shouted gruffly, clapping his hands to get the group’s attention. “Let’s do this!”

The crowd cheered, ready to get the festivities underway.

“Not the kind of drag race I ever imagined myself going to,” Kevin mused as they gathered around Archie’s truck, waiting until the final checks were finished. “but at least the guys are hot.”

“If you like cokehead chic,” Neris quipped. “Didn’t know the nineties were back.”

“Hey, I’m allowed to look,” Kevin replied. “Don’t knock my preferences and I won’t knock yours.”

“Let’s do it!” Tall Boy repeated as he walked between the two cars amidst the cheers of the crowd. “Get these cars up in on the road!”

Jughead and his Ghoulie opponent pulled onto the asphalt up the the unmarked starting line, getting out to shake hands in a show of sportsmanship.

“Race over Herk Harvey Bridge to Dead Man’s Curve,” Jughead laid out the terms of the race. “First one back here wins.”

Toni had been standing near the two cars, but she was surprised to see Cheryl saunter up to her, red scarf in hand, as the boys broke away and made their way back to their cars.

“Uh, I usually do the honors,” Toni informed her.

“Not today, Cha-Cha,” Cheryl strode past her. “I was born for this moment.”

Toni pursed her lips but allowed Cheryl her glory, returning to her place beside her friends.

“Engines warm and ready, gentlemen?” Cheryl simpered, answered by the revving of their engines. She grinned as she slid on her sunglasses, raising the flag up and then throwing it behind her as she arched her back, starting the race.

In excitement, everyone cheered as they ran after the cars speeding down the road, jumping and screaming as they urged their respective drivers to go faster. As they made their way back to the dirt area, Neris trotted over to Toni, Sweet Pea, and Fangs.

“They finally turned you loose, huh?” Neris teased.

“Didn’t have much to hold us with,” Toni chuckled. “Saw you at the school when Jughead got out. He said you tried to warn us.”

“And failed,” Neris sighed. “You guys never would’ve gotten arrested in the first place if Jughead had just answered his damn phone. If I had your number I would’ve called you too, but foresight is apparently not my strong suit. Sorry for not being psychic.”

“I think we can find it in our hearts to forgive you,” Toni treased.

Neris and the Southside trio chuckled, which quickly died down as a Ghoulie sidled up next to her.

“Hey sweetheart,” he grinned as he put a hand on Neris’ shoulder. “Why don’t you leave these worms and come sit on my lap back at the finish line, huh?”

“Fuck off, douchebag.” Neris sneered, shoving his hand away.

The Ghoulie scoffed. “Don’t be frigid, bitch.”

“She said back off,” Toni stepped in.

“Like I’d listen to a damn thing you say, cunt.”

“The fuck did you just say to her?” Neris said, putting a hand to Sweet Pea’s chest to push him away as he stepped closer to the Goulie, his lips curled into a snarl. “I’d tell you to apologize, but I think the concept has been burned away with the rest of your meager intelligence from sampling too much of your own product.”

“Don’t talk about shit you don’t know, bitch. Or I’ll make you shut up.” The Ghoulie threatened.

Neris gave a short, mirthless laugh. “Oh, that’s cute. You think you’re intimidating. Hate to break it to you, but I’m not easily scared.” She lifted her hands and shoved him backwards using only her index fingers. She could see the shock on his face that he was actually moved backwards. “You think anything.” Neris punctuated her words with another shove. “You can do.” Shove. “Isn’t anything.” Shove. “I haven’t dealt with before? Well, I have news for you. You’re nothing.”

He made a grab at her — to smack her or shove her, she didn’t know — but she took his arm in one hand and fisted his shirt with the other, catapulting him over her shoulder and onto his back, the dust from the clearing billowing around him from the impact.

“Dont fuck with me!” She shouted as the man on the ground groaned in pain.

From their spot on the other side of the road, the Ghoulies gathered together in a show of intimidation, gearing up for a fight. Behind her, she could hear the Serpents doing the same.

“What?” Neris snapped at the Ghoulies. “Does someone else want to go? Cause I’ll happily take volunteers.”

“Hey, easy there,” Tall Boy snapped as he came up to her. “We want to stop this without violence.”

“Oh shut up,” Neris snapped at him. “I don’t like you.”

She stomped over to Archie’s truck, plopping back against the hood and folding her arms across her chest.

“Yo, what the hell was that?” Reggie wondered as he and the rest of the gang made their way back to the car.

“That was me getting pissed,” Neris snapped.

“Remind me never to get on your bad side, then.” He remarked.

“That would be a good idea,” Neris agreed.

They waited for the two cars to return — Neris having calmed down after Betty offered her a soda — and thankfully no Ghoulies had come up to her to bother her again. She noticed Toni, Fangs, Sweet Pea talking and looking at her not-so-subtly. Toni was probably telling them about Neris’ presumed gang history to explain her ability to toss a guy like he weighed nothing. If Toni could do anything remotely similar after being in the Serpents, Neris would be very impressed.

“Everyone scatter!” A long-haired Ghoulie rushed up to everyone, looking frantic. “The cops are rounding up Ghoulies!”

Everyone went into a panic, Ghoulies jumping in their cars and speeding off. Jughead and Archie pulled up out of the dust, Veronica rushing up to her boyfriend.

“Oh my god, oh my god,” she wrapped her arms around his neck. “You’re okay.”

“We gotta get out of here,” Archie told her, returning her embrace.

“Come on,” Jughead rushed around the car to his friends. “Come on; come on! We gotta go. Right now.”

“You called the cops?” Tall Boy screamed, pushing through the the Northside kids as they rushed to Archie’s car to get to Jughead. “You won’t throw in with the Ghoulies, but you will with cops? Where’s the honor in that?”

“Calm down, Tall Boy,” Jughead shouted in return. “You think I knew Keller would be there?”

“I called Keller,” Archie confessed.

“What the hell, Archie?” Jughead hollered. “Did my dad tell you about this, too?”

“No, this was my idea to get rid of the Ghoulies. It worked,” Archie replied. “They get arrested for street racing and now they’re off the chessboard.”

“For how long? One month? Three months? You know what they’ll want on the other side, Archie? Your head on a stake!” Jughead shoved his friend back roughly. “All of ours!”

“Neris, get on,” Sweet Pea spoke gruffly, grabbing Neris’ upper arm and guiding her to his bike. “I’ll take you home.”

“Neris, come on,” Archie shouted.

“You guys get out of here; I’m fine,” she shouted at him as Betty and Veronica climbed into Reggie’s borrowed car. Her voice lowered as she straddled Sweet Pea’s bike behind him. “I might punch him if I rode home with him, so there’s that, too.”

She heard Sweet Pea snicker as he revved his bike, taking off down the dirt clearing and back to the main road. Her arms were wrapped around his torso — the _muscles_ …she unconsciously squeezed her legs closer to his thighs and internally shouted at herself not to make this weird.

He was being nice, which was uncharacteristic of him from what she’d seen. He wasn’t always at a 10 on his rage-o-meter, but nice was new. She didn’t want to ruin it.

Plus, in the back of her mind, she was still harping on the fact that she was a twenty year old _literally_ trapped inside the body of a sixteen year old.

_Don’t be creepy. Don’t make it weird._

Finally they arrived at her house, and Neris was thankful for the chance to stop her brain from imploding.

“Thanks for the ride,” Neris told him as she slid off the back of his bike, fishing her house keys from her pocket.

“Yeah. So, um,” he started awkwardly, something she didn’t think was possible for him. “That was pretty impressive back there.”

“Thanks,” she smiled at him, tilting her head to the side. “Wanna come in?”

_SHE WAS MAKING IT WEIRD._

“You’ve got a nice place,” Sweet Pea remarked as they walked through the front door.

Neris chuckled. “You’ve been here before.”

“Never been inside,” he replied.

“True,” she nodded. “So, can I ask you something without it getting all...awkward?”

“Sure,” he leaned against the breakfast bar of her kitchen counter.

“Why did you offer to drive me home?” She asked. “The whole ‘Ghoulies are being arrested, everyone scatter’ thing happened and everyone else bolted but you stayed behind. I’m just curious as to why.”

“Well, first of all, Andrews sucks,” Sweet Pea answered simply, causing Neris to snort. “I mean seriously, it’s one bad idea after another with that guy. And, I dunno, you’ve been cool with us and haven’t let the Northside get in your head. Toni told Fangs and me that you had a gang back home and since you’ve had our back here I just wanted to let you know we have yours.”

“Even if I’m not a Serpent?” Neris wondered with a playful quirk of her eyebrow.

He chuckled. “We take care of our own, Serpent or not.” Neris hummed, a soft smile on her face. “So,” he went on, “your parents aren’t gonna come home and freak out when they see me here, are they?”

“Ah, right,” Neris winced slightly. “No parents. Just me.”

Sweet Pea pulled back slightly in surprise. “Wait, seriously?”

She nodded. “It’s a long story that basically boils down to the fact that my mom hates me and didn’t want to be my mom anymore.”

“And your dad?” He wondered.

“Died when I was five.”

“Shit.”

Neris shrugged. “Yeah, but life must go on. You hungry? I hadn’t really planned on cooking tonight since I had no idea when the race and possible festivities afterward would end, but I could whip up something if you don’t want to order out.”

He gave a small smirk. “Pizza is fine.”

They relocated to the couch after Neris placed the order. Sweet Pea had taken off his dark jacket that he’d worn instead of his Serpent jacket, revealing the plaid long-sleeved shirt underneath.

“So,” Neris began tentatively, “you don’t have to answer if this is getting too personal, but why’d you join the Serpents?”

He sighed, leaning back in the cushions. “Growing up in the Southside, you basically have two options. The Ghoulies or the Serpents; no affiliation makes you a target. The Ghoulies suck ass, and the Serpents were the ones that helped take care of my family, so it was an obvious choice.” Neris nodded in understanding. “What about you?”

“What about — oh, right.” Neris realized he was talking about her supposed gang back home. “Well, we certainly didn’t have the numbers you guys have. It started when my friend Scott...got into some trouble. In the beginning it was just him, me, and our other friend Stiles. Then we started getting a few more people joining us; some of them left after a while and some of them...died. We went through a lot really...awful stuff, but we always had each others’ back.”

“So why’d you leave?” He questioned.

Neris sighed. “It wasn’t my choice. My mom made it for me.”

“But if she’s not your guardian anymore — ”

“It’s complicated,” she cut him off, sighing heavily.

Sweet Pea was silent, but Neris could tell he wasn’t satisfied with that answer. Thankfully, he didn’t press her for an explanation and the pizza arrived so the awkward tension was broken by food. The conversation shifted to nothing of importance as they ate, putting on a movie for background noise. The tension that was there melted away, and Sweet Pea looked to be getting more comfortable.

They’d shifted closer to each other as the movie went on, the half empty pizza box on the coffee table ignored as the evening grew dark. Neris could feel Sweet Pea looking at her and tilted her head up to look at him. Not missing a beat, he leaned down and pressed his lips against hers.

Momentarily taken aback, it took Neris a second to respond, her hand coming up to press against his chest as she fought the urge to curl her fingers into his shirt. One of his large hands came up to cup her cheek as the other curled around her waist, pulling her so she straddled his lap. Her hand moved to the nape of his neck, her fingers lacing through the dark locks.

Finally, the rational side of her brain kicked back into gear and Neris pulled out of the kiss. “Shit. I can’t...I can’t do this.”

Sweet Pea blinked, then scoffed as the misunderstanding took root. “Of course you can’t.”

“No, Sweet Pea, I really want to kiss you,” Neris clarified. “Like, a lot. But…” she sighed heavily, “there’s something about me that…when my first boyfriend found out he thought I’d been manipulating him and he really freaked out on me. I don’t want that to happen again.”

“What is it?” He asked, the edge to his voice still present.

“You wouldn’t believe me,” she replied, shifting off his lap.

“Try me,” he pressed.

“Okay,” she sighed once more. “I’m not human.”

He scoffed. “Sure.”

“See? I — ” She groaned heavily. “Come here,” she grabbed his arm and pulled him to her basement door.

“I’m not going in your basement,” he protested.

“Well that’s where my bestiaries are, so that’s where we’re going,” she replied, pulling him down the stairs.

“What the hell is a bestiary?” He wondered gruffly.

Though he tried to pull his arm away — not as strongly as she would’ve assumed if he was truly tried to get away from her — she kept her grip firm. She brought him to a small bookcase, grabbing a leather bound tome, flipping to the page she wanted and handed it to him. He raised an eyebrow at her skeptically, but read the page anyways.

 

> **Homo Seirenes**
> 
> Siren                                    
> 
> **Origin**
> 
> Greece – 4 BC
> 
> Sirens were once nymphs and the handmaidens of Persephone, given the ability to grow wings by Demeter to fly around the world searching for Persephone when she was taken. When Persephone was not found, they were granted the ability to pass between the mortal realm and the Underworld, creating the full avian form later to be known as the ‘Harpy Form’. Finally, once Demeter no longer had use for them, they were given to Poseidon who granted them tails to protect the waterways.
> 
> **Culture**
> 
> The world’s siren flock is a matriarchal society, as sirens are only female. The eldest of all sirens is the grand matriarch and historian. She holds all the records of the ancient days as well as the roster of all living sirens. When she dies, the title and responsibilities are passed to the next oldest siren. Matriarchs are often in contact with descendants of Oracles to help aid them in protecting their flock.
> 
> Sirens are all named after bodies of water, representing their connection to the sea god Poseidon.
> 
> **Appearance**
> 
> All sirens, dating back from their first recorded appearance in the myth, are known for their unique beauty.
> 
> Their hair is a fine silver golden color that darkens with age; younger sirens’ hair may often look a whitish blonde, while others more golden.
> 
> Their eyes are a muted gray with a purple ring around the iris. This purple ring expands to cover the whole iris when a siren is using her male mental manipulation ability. As a siren ages, the gray is diluted with purple; older sirens have fully purple eyes while middle-aged sirens have varying degrees of purple-gray shades. This discoloration does not affect their male mental manipulation.
> 
> When a siren is in ‘Harpy Form’ their features turn dark – their hair and wings turns black, their skin takes on a gray color with a silver sheen, and the whole of their eye turns black – which gives them an added boost of strength, speed and agility in an almost berserker-like fashion.
> 
> **Abilities**
> 
>   * Increased strength, speed, and agility
>   * Accelerated healing
>   * Male Mental Manipulation – the ability to persuade men into performing any act a siren desires. The siren must have eye contact with their subject and their wording must be precise. When this occurs, the purple ring around their pupil expands to cover the entire iris. This ability affects supernatural creatures as well as humans, as long as they are male, and only affects one male at a time.
>   * Song – when a Siren sings in the tongue of the Underworld, she has the ability to manipulate singular as well as multiple males. Females can be subject to control by a Song if the siren is practiced enough, though the control is significantly weaker
>   * Growth of wings to aid in flight
>   * ‘Harpy’ Form
>   * ‘Aquatic’ Form – growth of tail reminiscent of mermaid’s
>   * Communication with the spirits via use of a modified blue quartz stone. Modification can only be done by an oracle or a descendant of one.
>   * Passing through worlds by calling on the spirits of ancient sirens through a modified blue quartz stone, often fashioned into a ring. Most sirens do not do this as passing through worlds is extremely painful
>   * Blood bonds – bonds created by the used of using a werewolf blood to heal a siren or vice versa
> 

> 
> **Weakness**
> 
>   * Henbane in any form
>   * Mountain ash - Exhibits control over werewolves and other supernatural creatures.
>   * Wings – inhibit movement even with increased abilities, and if they are broken at the base healing is almost impossible without blood sharing.
>   * Molting – bi-annual process in which old feathers are shed for new ones; extremely painful.
>   * Love – as sirens are known primarily as creatures of the underworld, their love lives are doomed to be difficult. Sirens’ love is absolute and unending. Any betrayal, denial of reciprocation, or death of loved one could potentially break their spirit and – in extreme cases – kill them.
> 


 “Okay, prove it,” he stated, snapping the book closed.

“Okay. How?” She asked.

“Show me something.” He said. “Your wings.”

Neris looked around the basement. “Would you settle for my tail? I don’t think my wings’ll fit.”

Sweet Pea rolled his eyes, waiting for her to confess she’d been lying. But his eyes widened as she jumped into his arms, and he was shocked to feel scales rubbing against his skin as she held her bridal style. With a loud curse, he dropped her out of shock.

“Ow!” Neris groaned, her pink tail transforming back into legs. “Okay, bad idea. Should’ve seen that coming.”

“You’re serious,” he sputtered. “You’re actually telling the truth.”

“Shocking, isn’t it?” She remarked as she stood up. “And I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone about this. No one. Not even the Serpents. Honestly, I’m not even sure why I’m telling you, and I’d rather not be repaid with a mob to chase me out of town of government agents taking me in for tests or something.”

“Why...what…” he stuttered, his expression lost. “The fuck?”

“Sweet — ”

“Hang on,” he cut her off. “I need to get my head around this. You’re a siren…”

“Yes.”

“…know for being supernaturally hot…”

“Um, I guess.”

“…and you’re into me.”

Neris chuckled. “If that’s all you’re gonna freak out about with all this, I’m okay with that. Yes, Sweet Pea; I’m into you.”

“No, I’m still really weirded out about the whole ‘not human’ thing,” he confessed. “I mean, you’re not going to kill me and eat me are you? Isn’t that what sirens do?”

She snorted. “No, I’m not going to kill you _or_ eat you. The Greeks were kinda stupid when it came to the supernatural creatures around them.”

“So, does that mean everything else is real too?” Sweet Pea wondered. “Vampires? Werewolves?”

“Yeah,” she grimaced. “That’s where the complication I mentioned earlier comes in. Why don’t we go back to the living room; I’d rather not go through this story standing in my basement.”

He nodded, following her back up the basement stairs and they plopped back on the living room couch.

“Okay, where do I start?” Neris sighed. “Um...yeah. This is going to sound even crazier than ‘I’m not human’. The reason I’m here and not with my pack is because I’m from an alternate dimension and my mother convinced the siren matriarch to send me here cause she hates me.”  

“…alternate dimension?” He drawled.

“Yes,” she answered bluntly. “Where I’m from, werewolves do exist. Vampires are extinct. And wendigos, banshees, shifters in all forms, druids...things like that all exist. Here, I’m not so sure. There’s some kind of supernatural element otherwise they couldn’t have sent me here. I’m thinking ghosts.”

“ _Alternate dimension?_ ” He repeated in a more incredulous tone.

“Yes, alternate dimension.”  

He shook his head. “This is fucking batshit.”

“Welcome to my life.” She huffed.

“So, when Toni said that your gang was called the Pack, you actually meant a real pack.” He wondered. “Like, a werewolf pack?

“Yeah,” she nodded solemnly. “Okay, so, buckle up ‘cause there’s some some crazy exposition coming your way. My friend Scott got bitten when we were fifteen by a werewolf named Peter, an Alpha who was going around committing revenge murders for his family’s death at the hands of Kate, the aunt of Scott’s girlfriend Allison, who was part of a family of hunters going back generations. Peter wanted to use Scott as a lackey to assist in those killings. Scott didn’t, thank god. Peter killed Kate — well, we thought so, but we later found out that she’d survived and escaped to Mexico where she became a werejaguar — and then Peter’s nephew Derek killed him and took his place as Alpha.

Then Jackson, one of our classmates — who wanted to become a werewolf — was bitten by Derek but he ended up turning into a Kanima, which is basically a mutation caused by the bite that turned him into a reptilian murder tool for another classmate, Matt. And guess what, Matt was using Jackson to commit more revenge killings. Shocker. So, Matt was drowned by Allison’s grandfather, Gerard, and then Gerard took control of Jackson and tried to manipulate Derek into turning him so he wouldn’t die from cancer. And our friend Lydia was manipulated into bringing Peter back to life, so we had that bastard to deal with again. And on top of all that, I finally managed to get the guy I liked to be my boyfriend, only for him to realize what I am, think I manipulated him, and try to kill me on two occasions before we got back together.”

“Wait, he tried to kill you?” Sweet Pea balked asked. “You said he just freaked out.”

“He did. And then he tried to kill me. Twice. And then we got back together and were dating until I broke up with him and he started chasing after Allison.”

“Scott’s girlfriend?”

“Yeah, she and Scott eventually broke up.”

“Oh,” he remarked lamely. “So, did you guys beat her grandfather?”

“Oh, yeah, Scott had been dosing Gerard with mountain ash so instead of turning into a shifter, Gerard ended up continuously bleeding black goo from every orifice.” Neris waved her hand dismissively. “Until his son cured him, but I won’t get into that.”

“And how did Lydia bring back Peter?”

“We didn’t know it then, but she’s a banshee,” Neris explained. “Someone who can communicate with the dead and sense when someone’s about to die. She eventually was able to develop the ability to use her scream to generate a sound wave capable of throwing people and objects short distances and shattering a person’s skull.

I’m totally getting off track. Where was I? Oh yeah. Then we had to deal with an Alpha pack terrorizing our town — I got kidnapped and tortured — ”

“WHAT?!”

“Yeah, but they’re dead so it’s fine now,” Neris told him. “Anyways, they murdered two of our friends and an evil Druid called a Darach was committing ritual sacrifices of the townspeople to gain power to defeat the Alpha pack. Why? Revenge of course; because that’s all that people care about. And to stop the Darach from performing the final sacrifice, Scott, Allison, and Stiles sacrificed themselves by drowning.”

“They died?” Sweet Pea gaped.

“What? No, they lived.” Neris shook her head. “I mean, they died for a while, but they lived. And while they were dead, I died when I was pulled into the Underworld and was offered extra power to save them and I took it, only I wasn’t told that the price would basically be my sanity. I got a little murder-happy for a while — granted, there were also mass amounts of people trying to kill _me_ , but I’ll get the that later. I’m fine now. The mark on my wrist, the Strophalos, is the source of that power.

But that’s not all.

Because of the surrogate sacrifice, we found out that a void spirit that fed off pain and chaos called a Nogitsune was released, possessing someone, and spreading a shit ton of pain and chaos around the town; all the supernaturals in our pack were mind probed by demons called Oni to make sure we weren’t the ones possessed. That’s where this mark came from,” Neris lifted her hair to show him the Japanese kanji that looked like a backwards five burned behind her left ear. “It turns out that it wasn’t a supernatural that was possessed, but a human — Stiles. It attacked all of us, killed Allison, and almost ended up killing Stiles before we got it out of him and locked it away. Isaac ran away like a little bitch after Allison died and we haven't heard from him since. And then, we find out that not only was Kate alive and a werejaguar, but that she and every supernatural citizen of Beacon Hills had a bounty on them. I had twenty million dollars on my head! So not only did we have to fight off the bounty hunters, but we also had to deal with Kate trying to turn Scott into a Berserker to get revenge on Scott since she blamed him for Allison’s death.”

Sweet Pea held up a hand to pause her ranting, “Sorry, a what-er?”

“A berserker. In old legends they were warriors who wore the pelts of wild animals to absorb their ferocity. In real life they completely lose their human side and become animalistic. Kate used Bear bones and skin to make her berserkers.”

“And did any of your pack get killed by the hunters?” He wondered.

Neris shook her head, “Not my friends, no. But there were about twenty-one victims: four wendigos, about fourteen wolves, and three that we had no idea what they were.

But wait, there’s more!

After we shut down the deadpool and no more assassins were coming after us to get a big payday, we get three practically immortal para-scientists calling themselves the Dread Doctors conducting experiments on chimeric teenagers to create hybrids. They needed people with two sets of DNA to make the experiments work, but it only worked a couple times — the failed ones ended up causing havoc before the doctors took them down. We had this hybrid bastard Theo causing all sorts of shit, Stiles was going through hell because he accidentally killed a hybrid that was trying to kill him, and the Dread Doctors were doing all this experimentation to bring back La Bête du Gévaudan — one of the biggest and baddest werewolves in all recorded history.”

“So what happened?”

“Well, the deputy of our town turned out to be a Hellhound,” Neris elaborated, “and to put it simply, he sent The Beast back to hell. Theo followed soon after; got dragged there by the sister he murdered. That’s karma for you. Anyways, after that  — ”

“There’s _more_?” He balked.

“Unfortunately. So, the Wild Ride came to Beacon Hills. They’re a bunch of undead warriors — more like living corpse-looking things rather than actual zombies —  who ride the lightning and recruit the living to their ranks by erasing them from reality. They did that to Stiles and almost the whole town, so we had to fight them while also having to deal with a fucking _were-lion_ who was an actual _Nazi from WWII_ that the Dread Doctors had been using to prolong their life. We finally managed to bring everyone back thanks to one of the Dread Doctors’ chimeras who had the power of adaptive camouflage — kind of like a supernatural chameleon. The Ghost Riders gave up on the town, thank god, and took Garrett with them as a kind of recompense, which no one was sad about.

 _But_ , an Anuk-Ite — basically a fear demon — escaped the Wild Hunt when everyone was brought back and was making the whole town paranoid. Our guidance counselor, Monroe, started riling up anyone she could to join her team of hunters because she was convinced anything that was supernatural was evil after she got attacked by the Beast. So we had to try to not get killed by the hunters while trying to stop the Anuk-Ite from finding its other half and basically becoming unstoppable. We failed the second part. No one could fight it because one look in your eyes and you were literally turned to stone. And even if you weren’t fighting it, it could get in your head and made you hallucinate your darkest fears. It was awful. But, Scott clawed out his eyes and killed the Anuk-Ite. He’s fine, though. They grew back. The hunters, however, persisted.”

“And this all happened before you moved here?” Sweet Pea was gobsmacked.

“Uh, yeah,” Neris winced. “That’s another thing. So, when my mom had me sent over here, she had the druids de-age me back to sixteen. Sort of like her twisting the knife, so to speak. So, I’ve already graduated high school. I’m actually twenty years old, I’m just physically sixteen.”

He blinked. “Honestly, out of everything you told me, that’s the least weird thing.”

Neris breathed a small sigh of relief. “So, you’re not going to run screaming out of my house?”

Sweet Pea scoffed. “I run away from nothing. And I’m not a narc; I’ll keep your secret.”

“Not even Jughead can know,” Neris pressed.

“I promise.”

Neris and Sweet Pea had spent the rest of the night just talking, which she was thankful for. He was freaked out at first, which was completely understandable, but the more he learned about her and what she could do, he seemed less wary and more impressed.

They hadn’t resumed the make-out session that they had started — something Neris was of mixed feelings about — though Sweet Pea hadn’t shied away from skin contact. He’d touched her hand, played with her hair, and he’d even given her a kiss as a goodbye, albeit on the cheek.

Though, for all the strides he’d taken getting comfortable with what she was, he did make her swear that she would never use her manipulation abilities on him, which she readily agreed to. She could tell he hadn’t been talking about anything involving emotions — already making him less paranoid than Isaac had been — but rather about his actions. He was a free spirit and didn’t want anyone to tell him what to do.

Except the leaders of the Serpents, which was understandable.

All had seemed right with the world until the next day, when the Black Hood left another message.

_“People of Riverdale, I have rid this town of the drug-dealing child-killer and others like him. Now, you must choose your fate. The next 48 hours will be a test, and I will be watching you very closely. Show me you are pure of heart, and my work ends. Continue to sin, and I will take up the sword again.”_

The Coopers had published the letter in the Riverdale Register, and the whole town was pushed even closer to the edge.

“You guys, I’m worried about my dad,” Kevin voiced as he walked down the school halls with Betty, Veronica, and Neris. “The town is turning on him. He’s trying his best under these crazy circumstances, but this Black Hood stuff is really getting to him.”

“How is he dealing with it?” Veronica wondered.

“Yeah, what’s he been doing?” Betty followed.

“He’s not sleeping. He’s not eating,” Kevin replied. “I hear him rummaging around the house at odd hours, talking to himself, just heading out in the middle of the night.”

“Where do you think he’s going?” Betty asked at the same time the Neris and Veronica asked ‘Where’s he going?’ in unison.

“I don’t know. But whatever it is, it’s — it’s like he’s a different person.”

His friends offered their condolences as Kevin turned with a sigh and walked down the rest of the hall, leaving the three girls to enter the office of the Blue and Gold without him

“Poor Kevin,” Veronica hummed. “He’s like a character in a lost Tennessee Williams play.”

“I can’t imagine how much sleep he’s lost over worrying about his dad,” Neris agreed.

“Guys, I have a theory about Sheriff Keller,” Betty voiced.

“Oh, me, too,” Veronica nodded.

“Isn’t it just stress?” Neris wondered.

“No,” Veronica shook her head. “It’s obvious.”

“He’s the Black Hood,” Betty announced.

“He’s having an affair,” Veronica stated a split second after Betty had spoken. When her words sunk in, she leaned forward in her chair. “What? Is that a joke?”

“I wish it were.” Betty replied.

“No,” Neris shook her head. “That is so wrong.”

“Whatever crazy web you’re spinning, B, let me break it down for you,” Veronica began. “Sheriff Keller's wife’s away, he’s failing at his job, he’s looking for comfort, sneaking around...all signs point to cheating.”

“Well, I don’t know,” Betty shrugged, “maybe he’s having an affair, and he’s the Black Hood.”

“Then he wouldn’t just be losing sleep,” Neris remarked. “He’d be flat on his back. He can’t be the sheriff, and be the Black Hood, _and_ be carrying on a secret affair all at the same time. He’d have a mental break down. He’s stressed, but not that much.”

“You’ve known Kevin’s dad how many years?” Veronica wondered.

“Okay, think about it,” Betty went on. “The Black Hood killed Mr. Phillips in a cell at the Sheriff’s Station. How do you explain that?”

“Betty, Kevin needs our friendship right now, not your groundless suspicions,” Veronica sighed. “Don’t worry, my intuition is telling me that he’s having an affair. But stay tuned while I prove it.”

With that, she grabbed her purse and her coffee and made her way out of the office.

“Have fun with that,” Neris called after her, pulling her vibrating phone from her bag. An unknown number was calling her. “Hello?”

“Are you being a good girl?” A familiar voice chuckled on the other end of the call.

Neris laughed, getting up from her chair and moving to the hall. “No, not at all.”

Sweet Pea laughed. “Listen, a couple of us are getting together at Fangs’ place for a movie. You in?”

Neris gave a mock gasp, “I’m invited? I’m so honored.”

“Are you coming or not?” He chuckled.

“What are you guys watching?” She wondered.

“The Wolfman,” he replied. “The one with Lon Chaney; Toni refuses to watch the remake.”

Neris paused. “You suck, you know that, right?”

“Hey, I’m not the one that picked it,” he chuckled.

Neris gave a half-hearted groan. “Okay, fine. I will sit through a movie making a mockery of my friends on one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“Garlic butter on the popcorn.”

“What?” He guffawed. “How am I supposed to kiss you with garlic breath?”

“Who said we’d be kissing? Aren’t your friends gonna be there?” She wondered. “I mean, it is Fangs’ trailer after all.”

“Eh,” she could almost hear him shrugging though the phone.

“Classy,” she snorted. “What time should I get there?”

“Six,” he told her. “Hope you want pizza again.”

“Yeah, we’re not doing pizza again.” Neris shook her head even though she knew Sweet Pea couldn’t see her. “Don’t worry; I’ll cook.”

“Nothing fancy,” he warned.

She snorted, “Yeah, yeah.”

Sweet Pea was amped up for Neris to come to movie night.

It had taken him a few hours after he’d left her place the other night for what she had told him to fully sink in. It had felt sort of fake in a way — like a hidden camera show or some weird dream he couldn’t seem to wake up from. But he’d felt the scales under his fingertips when she’d transformed and jumped into his arms; that he remembered clearly.

And as he thought about it more and more, sleep evading him as his new reality began to seep in, he found himself staring at the ceiling as a small smile teased at the corner of his lips.

Yes, she was a siren and supernaturally attractive — and into him, which was pretty awesome in his books — but it was more than her appearance.

He was attracted to her the day Fangs brought them to the wrong house, but he’d assumed she was a Northsider, which was like the forbidden fruit for Southsiders — fun to play with, but never good for anything lasting. Seeing her at the trailer park when she looked at Hot Dog had him thinking the same thing.

But it was when she looked after Jughead following his gauntlet run that he started feeling the smallest amounts of respect for her. She hadn’t scolded Jughead for doing something dangerous, just made sure he was okay. Hell, she’d even looked after Sweet Pea in a small way. And in the back of his mind he realized she’d cheated him out of five bucks — she’d used her manipulation abilities on Tall Boy to get her to stay.

And then he saw her flip the Ghoulie at the drag race, saw the unfiltered rage that bubbled just below the surface as she challenged a whole gang with no fear. That’s when he could really admit to himself that she wasn’t a Northsider by any means, and some part of him didn’t want her Northside friends to dig their claws into her and ruin her.

Hearing everything she’d gone through in her own dimension — something that still seemed so strange to him, even given everything she’d told him — he knew that while she didn’t want to have to fight for her life anytime soon, she’d be willing to throw down with anyone who came after those she’d chosen to care about.

It was her loyalty, too, that kept his thoughts turned to her as he lay in bed. That was the biggest thing. He’d seen relationships on the Southside fall apart for many reasons — infidelity, greed, leaving for ‘a better life’ — and whatever the reason was, someone always got hurt. The Serpents were his family and he was willing to die for them, and she understood that completely. She’d lived it. Once Neris made a bond, it was there forever. He respected that, admired that, and in some small way he craved it.

He meant it when he said he wasn’t going anywhere. To him, loyalty was never something to take lightly. She’d trusted him and he wasn’t going to betray her — not because he was afraid of what she’d do to him if he did, but because he understood what trust meant to her, because it meant the same for him.

While all of that was completely true, he couldn’t lie to himself, having a supernaturally hot girl who could beat up a guy maybe three times her size without breaking a sweat was very attractive to him.

But, even though she’d trusted him with her secret, she was still a stranger; that was why he’d wanted her to come to movie night at Fang’s trailer. What he didn’t expect was for his friends to be so cool with it. Sure, they liked Neris, but it had been just the three of them for a long time.

“Yeah, sure, why not?” Fangs had replied when Sweet Pea had broached the subject. “I mean, anyone who can beat up a Ghoulie like that is cool in my books.”

“Yeah, Neris is chill,” Toni agreed. “And if I didn’t think I wasn’t her type I’d totally go for her.”

“You’re right; you’re not her type,” Sweet Pea quipped.

“I know,” she smirked. “What did you tell me she said, Fangs? Tall, dark, handsome and looking for a fight? I wonder who matches that description.”

So when Neris showed up that evening, a reusable bag in tow, all Sweet Pea could think of was how her hair caught the light of the sunset.

Goddammit. He’d fallen hard.

Neris greeted them warmly as she stepped into Fangs’ trailer, pulling out the food she’d brought with her. Layered taco jars and Fritos — so much better than pizza. Plus, the way Fangs’ eyes lit up when she arrived and Toni’s smirk of approval were just the icing on the cake. She knew Toni was cool with her, Fangs she couldn’t get a read on yet, but even getting a partial invite to their trio felt like a big deal for Neris.

“Oh hell yeah; I liked her before but with food? Thousand times more,” Fangs remarked, happily taking one of the jars and the bag of chips from her and bounding over to his couch.

“Careful Pea, you might have some competition. Better lock her down soon,” Toni teased as she took a jar of her own, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

“Uh uh,” Fangs shook his head. “No locking on my couch.”

Sweet Pea snorted and playfully swatted at his friend as he sat on the empty side of the couch, beckoning Neris to sit next to him. With a small smirk, she complied, setting their jars on her lap as she curled up next to him.

“Ugh,” Toni groaned playfully. “The movie hasn’t even begun yet and they’ve already started.”

“Well start the movie and stop looking,” Sweet Pea replied, earning him a Frito chip launched at his head, which he tried but failed to catch in his mouth.

As Toni started the movie, Sweet Pea draped his arm over Neris’ shoulders, having taken his taco jar from her and using one hand to dip his chips in to keep his other around her. After a while he started absentmindedly brushing his fingers against the mark behind her ear, causing a shiver to run down her spine.

“You okay?” He whispered, looking down at her.

“Yeah, just didn’t expect it,” she replied, earning a hum as a reply. “So, now that you’ve had time to think about it, are you really okay with everything?”

Sweet Pea gave a soft grin. “I told you; I don’t run away from anything. You’re stuck with me.”

“Will you two stop flirting?” Toni whined, throwing more chips at them.

“Hey,” Neris gruffed, munching on one of the chips that had fallen on her lap, “ don’t throw my food.”

“I saw Kevin’s dad sneaking out in the middle of the night and he came home, like, at 4:00 am.” Veronica informed the two girls sitting in front of her.

Veronica had called the two of them to Pop’s to divulge what she’d found out after sleeping over at Kevin’s place. While it wasn’t part of Betty’s investigation, the smug look on her face spoke volumes.

“Look,” Betty smacked a copy of the Riverdale Register on the table. “A Jinglejangle addict’s body was found by the tracks this morning.”

“It says here this guy was hit and killed by a train,” Veronica stated, reading the article.

“Yeah, because he was pushed in front of it by Sheriff Keller,” Betty insisted.

“That seems like a stretch,” Neris voiced.

“Or he stumbled into its path,” Veronica offered.

“That seems more likely.” Neris remarked.

“No, think about all the locked doors in his house,” Betty went on. “Why? Why?”

“Because he’s a private person,” Veronica stated. “Look, Betty, let’s not confuse wanting a solution to this mystery with actually having one, okay? This is Kevin's father we’re talking about.”

“I cannot believe I’m going to say this,” Neris added, “but I agree with Veronica. I mean, the way you’re trying to peg Sheriff Keller as the Black Hood is pretty comparable to the way both Mayor McCoy and your mom blame all the woes of Riverdale on the Southside.”

“But my mom and the Mayor are at least partially right,” Betty contested. “And I’m right about this.”

Neris shook her head. “It doesn’t add up. While I do think the Black Hood is a Northsider, the Sheriff? No way.”

Neris had thought Betty would give up her obsession with having Sheriff Keller be the Black Hood, but unfortunately she was proved wrong when Veronica called her that evening.

“Betty has officially lost it,” Veronica told her. “Sheriff Keller showed her his log book and even though he had an alibi for everything she still can’t admit she’s wrong. She wants us to meet her at the Keller’s house for a stakeout.”

“Are you serious?” Neris groaned. “Oh my god. Okay, we need to go in case we have to stop her from doing something stupid, even though I think this whole thing is stupid.”

“I agree,” Veronica replied. “Plus, this is Kevin’s dad and Kevin’s our friend. If anything else, we at least need to find out what Sheriff Keller is doing just in case it might hurt Kevin.”

“That too,” Neris agreed.

Which was how she found herself camped in Betty’s car outside the Keller house, waiting for something to happen.

“Look,” Betty finally spoke, seeing something. “Look, look, look!”

The truck in the Keller’s driveway revved to life, the red tail lights beaming brightly.

“Now where-oh-where do you think you’re going, Sheriff?”

The sheriff pulled his truck out of the driveway, Betty turning on her car and following behind him. They ended up pulling into the parking lot of the Shady Palm Motel, parking a good bit away from Sheriff Keller as they watched him pull a bag out of the truck bed.

“There he is,” Betty pointed out what they all could see.

“What is he doing?” Veronica wondered.

“That must be his kill kit,” Betty decided, taking pictures with her cellphone.

“His what now?” Veronica sputtered.

“Why is _that_ where your mind went?” Neris asked.

“He's about to do something terrible,” Betty ignored them. “His next victim could be in that room right now.”

“Should we call the cops?” Veronica asked, but Betty had already exited the car. “Betty?”

“Oh my god,” Neris rolled her eyes, both she and Veronica getting out of the car to follow Betty.

“A serial killer wouldn’t use a motel as his killing ground,” Neris hissed as they trailed Sheriff Keller. “That’s just begging to be caught!”

“What the hell are you doing?” Veronica whispered as she and Neris caught up to Betty, all three of them lurking behind a plant as they watched Sheriff Keller approach a room and knock.

“Shh,” Betty shushed.

The door opened and Mayor McCoy stepped out, wearing lingerie and a robe. The three girls spying nearby were gobsmacked, watching stunned as they shared a passionate kiss. They had to relocate to Pop’s hoping some sugar would shock their systems back to normality.

“I just can’t believe this,” Betty muttered. “I’m in shock.”

“Me, too,” Veronica replied. “My woman’s intuition told me Sheriff Keller was having an affair, but with Mayor McCoy?”

“Isn’t she married, too?” Neris wondered.

“Oh, God,” Betty breathed, shaking her head. “Riverdale’s list of sinners keeps expanding.”

“Hey, look, it’s the boys,” Veronica remarked, the three girls watching as Jughead and Archie entered Pops and made their way to a booth of their own. “Shall we ask them to join?” She watched as they plopped heavily in their seats. “On second thought, it looks like they’re having an intense broment.”

“You guys, how are we gonna tell Kevin about this?” Betty wondered.

“ _Are_ we going to tell Kevin about this?” Neris questioned.

“I don’t think we do,” Veronica replied. “I think this is one of those secrets we keep. For Kevin’s sake. Let him keep thinking his dad’s a good guy.”

“And when he does find out,” Neris added. “We just have to be there for him.”

The diner’s phone rang, its sound carrying over the music playing softly in the background.

“Hello, Pop’s!” Pop’s answered cheerfully, his expression dropping as he listened to the voice on the other end of the line. Saying nothing, he hung up the phone and stepped out from behind the counter to address the patrons of his diner. “That was him on the phone,” Pop announced. “The Black Hood. He says that we’ve failed his test. That we’re all sinners. That the reckoning is upon us.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I did a thing and I'm super not sorry for it. Also, please note the tags have changed.
> 
> Not sorry, lol.

Sweet Pea grunted, sweat dotting his forehead and dripping down his neck.

“That’s good,” Neris purred, “just a few more and you’re done.”

Sweet Pea groaned, flopping down on the floor of his trailer as his arms sprawled out to his sides. “I can’t do any more crunches. I’ll die if I try.”

Neris chuckled softly, rubbing his calves sympathetically. “Sorry. I forgot you don’t have the same stamina as me.”

Sweet Pea glared at her, huffing as he shifted to grab a water bottle from the nearby end table. “There’s nothing wrong with my stamina,” he grumbled before taking a giant swig.

“I didn’t say that,” Neris corrected gently with a soft smile. “I just said it wasn’t the same as mine; you know, cause I have the whole supernatural advantage. Honestly, I’m surprised you asked me to work out with you.”

“I just wanted to impress you,” he mumbled, taking another large swig in a vain attempt to distract from his confession.

“Impress me?” Neris repeated. “Why is that so important? You already know I like you.”

“Your last boyfriend was a werewolf, for god’s sake,” Sweet Pea huffed. “I can’t compete with that.”

She gave a soft laugh. “Sweets, this isn’t a competition,” she told him, but he looked as if he didn’t agree with her. She sighed lightly. “Look, this may sound like a random question, but what would you do if I got murdered?”

“I’d track the bastard down and make him pay,” he answered without hesitation, his eyebrows slightly furrowed in confusion. “But I don’t get why — ”

“After Allison died, Isaac ran away, remember?” She interjected. “I mean, he and Allison hadn’t even been dating long, but still, it just shows that he would’ve done the same thing if it had been me. So, even though there’s no competition, if there was you’d already be winning.”

Sweet Pea gave a half grin, but it fell as he began to utter his next words. “But...if you two were dating, and you loved him, doesn’t that mean you still love him? I mean, the bestiary said Sirens’ love never ended.”

Neris sighed once more. “When I got the Strophalos, all major bonds I’d made before that were broken. I had an alpha bond with Scott, that ended even though those are supposed to be utterly unbreakable. And the love I felt for Isaac got wiped away too. Magic always comes with a price. Mine happened to be multilayered, and that was one of them. So, no, I don’t love Isaac anymore.”

Sweet Pea was silent for a moment, mulling over her words, before a slow grin took over his face. “I think I’ve gotten my second wind,” he informed her playfully.

Instead of resuming his crunches, however, he crawled onto his knees and on top of Neris, beginning a set of push ups as she lay sprawled underneath him, laughing at the absurdity. She squealed as a droplet of sweat fell from his forehead onto hers, and then fell into a fit of giggles as each time he descended, Sweet Pea began to land a kiss on her lips.

“You better help me count,” he chuckled breathily.

Neris laughed. “Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen.”

Neris was somewhat concerned when Jughead texted her and called for a meeting school one morning. She was sure that if it was something actually dangerous then he’d call rather than text, and her minor fears were put to rest when she saw that the rest of the core four were in the office of the Blue and Gold with him.

“Am I late?” Neris wondered as she joined them.

“Right on time,” Jughead grinned.

“So the reason we called you guys in here…” Betty began, turning to her boyfriend with a wide smile.

“My dad’s getting out of jail,” Jughead revealed.

“That’s awesome,” Neris grinned.

“Jug, that’s — that’s great,” Archie remarked, looking more shocked than joyous.

Veronica, surprisingly more excited than her boyfriend, smiled at Jughead. “Yeah, what heralded this miracle?”

“Uh, overcrowding at the jail,” Jughead informed them, with a slight pause before his answer. “I guess the judge reviewed my dad’s case and after Cheryl’s testimony it was...a perfect storm.”

“What do you need from us, Jug?” Archie wondered.

“Both of us,” Betty replied. “We have a new lead on the Black Hood case. And Jughead and I were wondering if you guys would follow up on it for us. We can give you all of the details, the articles.”

“It’s just that I have to be there for my dad to help with his re-entry, so…” Jughead excused.

“Uh, yeah and I’m just — I’m taking a break from the Black Hood,” Betty added.

“Wait, so, you want us to be you guys?” Veronica inquired as Archie looked over the notes Betty had passed over.

“Essentially, yes,” Jughead replied, earning a slight pause from Veronica and Archie. “Why, is there a problem with that?”

Veronica and Archie replied with wordless shakes of their heads.

“Great, the scarecrow can get a brain,” Neris mumbled before looking up with a blank face as she realized what she’d said. “Whoa, sorry; I’ve got my sass meter turned up too high. Not that I’m not happy you’re dad is getting released, but I’m pretty sure you didn’t ask me here to aid ‘Varchie’ with their detective work.”

“No, you’re right,” Jughead chuckled. “It’s not. I asked you here ‘cause you’re my friend. No strings attached.”

Neris put a hand to her heart and gave an overdramatic sigh. “Jughead. You _do_ care.”

“Hey, can I ask you a favor?” Betty asked over the phone, calling Neris the next day before school.

“Sure; what’s up?” Neris replied.

“I want to throw Jughead’s dad a retirement part — ”

“Retirement?” Neris repeated. “Really? Damn, never thought that would happen. Sorry, I interrupted. Proceed.”

Betty chuckled lightly. “It’s fine. I want to have it at the Wyrm, and since they’re not really too welcoming to Northsiders given everything that’s happened I was hoping you’d come with.”

“Jughead told you about me and Sweet Pea, huh?” Neris laughed.

“Which he was told by Toni,” Betty revealed.

“Gotta love that high school grapevine,” Neris snorted. “But yeah, I’ll help. Though, do you need me to actually help or act as more of a buffer?”

“A little bit of both,” Betty confessed.

And so Neris met Betty at the Whyte Wyrm, camping at the bar where Toni was working. Toni kept her guard up around Betty, but was cordial — which was more than they could say about some of the other Serpents.

“You have a stage,” Betty remarked once she’d gotten the go ahead from Hog Eye — the owner of the Wyrm — to hold FP’s retirement party at the bar. “Would you be open to me bringing in a karaoke machine?”

“For FP’s retirement?” Toni wondered with a half smile. “Sure, why not.”

“Also, Toni, one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you, beyond the party-planning, is...I’ve been walking the razor’s edge since Jughead joined the Serpents and all I’ve been thinking is…” Betty trailed off for a moment. “You know, as soon as FP gets home, everything will get better because he’ll be there to protect Jughead and make sure he doesn’t get hurt.”

“Yeah, I’m following you,” Toni sighed softly. “I mean, with FP out of the picture…”

“But that’s my whole point.” Betty went on. “I _do_ worry. So, I wanna keep an eye on Jughead, myself. Make sure that as deep into these snake-infested waters as he goes, he doesn’t do something that, you know, puts him in danger.”

“So, what? You wanna be a Serpent?”

“Yeah,” Neris interjected slowly. “I’m all for wanting to protect the people you care about, but I’m not seeing how you joining the Serpents would help protect Jughead. I mean, no offense, but you look like you would barely be able to take a punch, let alone give one.”

“Okay, maybe not a full-fledged Serpent,” Betty conceded. “Let’s say Serpent-adjacent. But, yeah, part of his world, this world.”

Cackles were heard from behind them, and Toni’s amused expression shifted to annoyance. “Shut it, Byrdie,” she hollered.

“Sorry, Sweet Valley High,” Byrdie slurred, “if you wanna join the club, you gotta do the dance…” She trailed off, looking towards the woman entangled around the metal pole in one of the corners of the bar. “Serpent dance.”

“Excuse me, Serpent dance?” Betty questioned.

“It’s an outdated, sexist Serpent tradition,” Toni ranted. “Tried to get it outlawed, but misogyny dies hard. You don’t wanna know.”

“Uh, yeah, I do,” Betty corrected. “I wanna know everything.”

“Betty, you are sixteen,” Neris reminded her. “And if you do this you’d be twirling around a pole in a room full of significantly older men.”

“And Sweet Pea,” Toni interjected.

“If that happens, he will be blindfolded,” Neris decided. “Just... _really_ think about this, Betty.”

“I will,” Betty promised, though Neris wasn’t quite sure she actually would.

At the office of the Blue and Gold the next day, Archie and Veronica revealed what they had come up with in regards to the connection between the mysterious Riverdale Reaper of the past and the Black Hood of the present.

“So, the real story was in the Sheriff’s notebook,” Archie began.

“There was a third child, Joseph Conway, who survived the massacre,” Veronica revealed.

“They hid his identity, changed his name, so he could lead a normal life,” Archie went on.

“Yeah,” Betty remarked almost in a whisper.

“Wait, they kept him in Riverdale?” Neris wondered. “If they were worried about him leading a normal life, why keep him in a town where people already knew him?”

“According to Sheriff Howard’s notes, he was adopted by another family in Riverdale and presumably, enrolled at a local high school,” Veronica shrugged.

“We got a picture of the kid,” Archie revealed, holding up the aged picture.

“If we match that boy to one of the students at Riverdale High during the years he would’ve attended — ” Veronica began.

“Then he might be able to tell us how the Conway murders are connected to the Black Hood,” Betty finished.

“Or he is the Black Hood,” Jughead surmised, met with confused silence from the rest of the room. “Just go with me here. Let’s say that our mystery kid _did_ end up surviving the slaughter, maybe even saw it. That would’ve messed him up for life.”

“Yeah, and somehow, for some reason, he could be blaming the town for what happened,” Betty agreed.

“And now is punishing us for it,” he remarked.

“You kill my family, I kill yours,” Neris sighed.

“So, basically, we just have to go through all these yearbooks, page by page, and see if we find a match. So, not quite a needle in a haystack,” Veronica informed them.

“At least we know we’re in the right field,” Neris quipped, as Jughead whispered something to Betty,

“What?” Veronica wondered.

“Uh, we just have to get ready for a party that we’re hosting,” Betty revealed.

“It’s my dad’s retirement party, so…” Jughead trailed off.

“Oh,” Archie and Veronica spoke almost in unison.

“No, you guys should come,” Betty invited them.

Jughead stammered as he began to speak. “If you don’t want to you really don’t have to — ”

“Yeah, no, I'm renting a karaoke machine,” Betty partially spoke over him.

“It’s not a big deal,” Jughead told them.

“You should come,” Betty decided as her two friends in front of her stared at each other awkwardly. “You guys should come.”

“If you want,” Jughead told them.

“Oh, Neris, can you swing by Pop’s and pick up the trays?” Betty turned to her. “I meant to ask you earlier.”

“Yeah, sure.” Neris nodded.

“Oh, you knew about it?” Veronica wondered, barely concealing her mild irritation.

Neris blinked. “And this is the part where I avoid answering. See you guys tonight!” She waved as she quickly left the room to head to Pop’s.

Neris thankfully had enough time to change before she headed over to the White Wyrm. She smiled widely at Hog Eye as she handed the trays Betty had asked her to borrow from Pop’s before making her way to Sweet Pea. He didn’t notice her at first, paying more attention to his pool game with Fangs, until his friend slapped him on his shoulder and pointed in Neris’ direction.

Sweet Pea straightened and looked over to her, his jaw dropping ever so slightly as he trailed his eyes over her. She was wearing her normal jeans and boots, but had thrown on a black crop top and a dark flannel shirt.

Fangs gave a low whistle, earning a sharp smack in the chest from Sweet Pea.

“You like it?” Neris grinned. “I’ve ‘Sweet Pea-ified’ my look for tonight.”

“This is…” Sweet Pea trailed off as he wrapped his arms around her waist, running his hands along the bare expanse of her skin. “...this is good.”

Fangs snorted. “Are you actually lost for words? Dude, you’re so whipped.”

“Don’t be mad he’s found someone prettier than you to hang out with,” Neris smirked.

He scoffed. “As if.”

“You are very pretty,” Sweet Pea murmured as he bent down to kiss her temple. “Some would say supernaturally so.”

“Well aren’t you a charmer,” she giggled as she kissed him lightly on the lips.

“Make out with your girlfriend later,” Fangs whined. “We’ve got a game to finish.”

“I’m pinch-hitting,” Neris announced, taking the stick from Sweet Pea.

“That’s baseball,” Sweet Pea informed her.

“I don’t care.” She remarked.

Either Fangs was really bad or Neris was getting lucky, because soon she found herself pulling into the lead. A small crowd had surrounded the table as the party got in full swing, cheering for their respective teams.

She got hustled. Fangs turned it around and won easily, bragging that she was lucky they hadn’t put money on it. This earned another smack from Sweet Pea, who led Neris to a less rowdy part of the bar.

“Oh great,” she heard Sweet Pea grumble. “Andrews is here.”

She looked over to see Archie and Veronica before turning her attentions back to the tall Serpent. “He’s Jughead’s friend. He won’t pull anything tonight; he’s not that stupid.”

“We’ll see,” He huffed, wrapping his arms around her as she stood in front of him. “You’re so tiny.”

“You’re a giant,” she snorted, looking up to him. He merely grinned at her.

Archie and Veronica got on the stage to kick off the karaoke performances, and Mad World began to play.

“Oh my god, are you serious?” Neris whined. “This is supposed to be a fun night; this song is so depressing.”

“Isn’t this from the Donnie Darko movie?” Sweet Pea wondered.

“Yes! Who thought this was a good song?” Neris grumbled.

While the song was still playing, Veronica got an anguished look and stormed off the stage, Archie calling after her and soon running off to follow her out of the bar. She could hear Sweet Pea booing from above her as many others in the crowd did the same. Betty quickly went to the stage to pick up where Archie and Veronica had left off, but barely though the first verse she started unbuttoning her shirt.

“You fucking what.” Neris intoned lowly.

The Serpent Dance. She was going to do the goddamn Serpent Dance.

She removed her top to reveal a black lacy camisole, still singing into the mic. Neris could feel Sweet Pea shifting and she looked up to see Sweet Pea smirking, which he quickly wiped off his face as soon as he noticed her glaring at him.

“Seriously?” Neris quipped.

“What? She’s got guts.” Sweet Pea defended.

“She’s getting half-dressed in front of a room of strangers and her _boyfriend’s dad_ ,” Neris remarked. “Serpents or not, there’s a huge creep factor here.”

“Yeah, and Jughead doesn’t look too happy about it either,” Sweet Pea remarked, turning Neris’ attentions to her friend.

Indeed, Jughead looked incensed as he stared at Betty — who was now free of her skirt and dancing almost lazily against the metal pole. At the end of the track, she returned to the mic, singing the final two lines. There was a moment of silence, seemingly no one knew how to react, until FP began clapping as he walked towards the stage. Taking his cue, the other Serpents joined in, some cheering for her performance.

“Quite the show,” FP remarked as he reached the stage. “Thanks, Betty. Here you go,” he slid off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. “Let’s give her a round of applause!” He prompted as Betty walked off the stage to her panicking mother, prompting another round of applause and cheers. “And show her some of that Serpent hospitality we’re known for. You know what? I’ve been in and out of the Serpents since I was younger than my son. And it’s been a...a wild ride. Good times, bad times, but through it all, the Serpents stuck by my side while most other people turned their backs on me. My own family included. Now, the letter of the law says that I can’t be here in the Serpent den. That I can’t associate with my friends. My real family. My blood. But I’ve been thinking about that. And it’ll be a cold day in hell before a snake lets a pig tell him what to do.”

Another round of cheers broke out throughout the bar. Sweet Pea had disentangled his arms from around Neris, bringing his fingers to his mouth to whistle.

“Northside wants me outta this gang?” FP continued. “Well, they better bring a coffin! Because FP Jones isn’t retiring! I am not going gently into the night! I’m here to stay! So, bring the fire!”

The crowd went wild, even Sweet Pea cheered loudly as their King refused to give up his throne. Many Serpents crowded the stage to congratulate him on his decision, though she could see the conflict on Jughead’s face at his father’s announcement.

“Does this mean the party’s over?” Neris wondered.

“The party’s just getting started,” Sweet Pea grinned.

Neris hummed. “But does that mean _we_ have to stay?” He quirked an intrigued eyebrow. “I mean, I haven’t seen you for a few days. Is it bad if I want you all to myself?”

“Shots, let’s line ‘em up!” Hog Eye shouted, but the sounds of the bar were drowned out at Sweet Pea stared at her with dark eyes.

“My place?” He asked.

Neris swallowed thickly and nodded, Sweet Pea taking her by the hand and leading her to his motorcycle. He offered her his jacket to protect her from the chilled night air as he climbed onto his bike, which she gratefully took.

The cold air biting her skin did nothing to quell the heat she felt prickling at her skin as they rode. Why on earth did she feel so nervous about what could happen back at Sweet Pea’s trailer?

She shivered — whether it was from the wind or nerves, or even excitement, she didn’t know — and she could feel Sweet Pea’s stomach muscles tighten under her fingers. When they arrived at his trailer, she saw him biting his lips as he swung his leg over the bike, taking her hand as he led her inside.

His cheeks were dusted pink from the biting wind, and as soon as he’d shut the door behind him, she reached up and traced one of them on impulse. His dark brown eyes bored into hers, partially obscured by the strands of hair falling from where he’d brushed them out of his face in vain.

Suddenly, his lips crashed against hers, his hands coming up to cup her cheeks in his surprisingly warm hands.

“You look so fucking good tonight. You’re lucky none of the Serpents are creeps,” he murmured darkly against her lips. “It would’ve sucked having to fight them for looking at you.”

Neris giggled softly. “Is it wrong that the thought of that is just a little bit attractive?”

He growled, his hands dropping to her thighs, almost bending her backwards as he gripped them and hoisted her up so her legs circled his waist, one hand on the small of her back and the other cupping her ass. Her hands flew into his hair, tangling in his tousled locks and pulling slightly as the kiss deepened. His tongue teased her bottom lip, slipping in and fighting hers for dominance. This was a battle she was all too happy to lose.

Her lungs were burning slightly from the lack of oxygen, and she knew Sweet Pea would be feeling the same even though neither of them wanted to break away from the other. Reluctantly, she wrenched her lips away and trailed them along his jawline and down to his neck, instantly finding his Serpent tattoo and nipping at it gently. Sweet Pea moaned, tilting his head to give her better access as his fingers tightened. As she suckled the inked snake she could feel him walking, no doubt taking them further into the trailer to his bed. She moved her lips down further, sucking a dark purple mark just below the serpentine design as her own claim on him.

His moan rumbled through his chest as he lowered her to his bed, his lips returning to hers as he climbed on top of her. His Serpent jacket had fallen off of her somewhere between the living area and his bedroom, and his fingers made quick work of removing her flannel shirt. He was wearing too many layers, she decided — a plaid shirt _and_ an undershirt. Now that was just insulting. She wanted to rip it off of him, but resisted and instead pulled both his shirts off in one fell swoop once her own shirt had been taken off. They joined each other in a rumpled mess on the floor, waiting to be joined by the other pieces of clothing.

She pulled off her crop top, leaving her in a simple black bra.

“Shit,” he muttered, crushing his lips to hers forcefully. If bruises on her didn’t heal after a few hours, she was sure her lips would be bruised for weeks from how aggressively he was kissing her.

He pulled away only to take off his undershirt, tossing it unceremoniously to the floor. Neris ran her fingers along the newly exposed skin. He wasn’t built for vanity — where each ab was clearly defined — but rather for power. He was brick wall of solid muscle. His eyes seemed almost darker as he pulled her against him, his large hands exploring every inch of skin that he could as he kissed and nipped at her lips. She could feel his growing hardness pressing against her, causing a soft whimper to escape her. Giving her bottom lip a particularly sharp bite, his hands slid up and flicked open the hooks of her bra and tossed it aside. After taking a brief moment to appreciate the sight before him, Sweet Pea cupped her breasts in his hand, his thumbs toying with her peaked nipples.

She gasped as her head rolled back onto his pillow, Sweet Pea dipping his head forward to take one of her nipples into his hot mouth, biting it slightly as he pinched the other. Her fingers threaded through his hair, holding him there as he suckled on her sensitive breast, jolts like lightning snapping through her whole body.

She realized through the thick haze of lust clouding her mind that he was leaving marks as he trailed his lips from one breast to the other, giving the same treatment to her other breast as the heat pooling in her abdomen became almost unbearable.

“Sweets, please…” Neris begged.

“What, princess?” He purred against her skin, using the nickname he knew would turn her into putty in his hands, not that she wasn’t already.

“Touch me,” she whimpered.

“But I _am_ touching you,” he teased.

“ _Please_ ,” she whined, other words completely escaping her.

Sweet Pea growled slightly as he pulled away from her, quickly undoing her jeans and pulling them off with her panties, unable to appreciate that they’d matched her bra. “Next time I’ll make you say it,” he promised as he trailed his fingers along her dripping slit before dipping one of his fingers inside of her.

Neris inhaled sharply, her back arching at the sudden but welcome intrusion.

He groaned lowly as his finger move within her. “God, Neris. You’re so wet for me. So wet; so tight. God, you’re gonna feel so good around my cock, princess.”

He added a second finger and then a third, his thumb coming up to circle her clit as he kissed the soft skin of her stomach. Neris’ hands clutched at the pillow under her head, not trusting herself to be touching him at this moment. She was a mess of moans and whimpers as the knot coiled tighter and tighter under his ministrations. With a sharp cry she fell over the edge, Sweet Pea never slowing as he worked her through her orgasm. She collapsed boneless against his mattress as the last wave faded, and she looked down to see him staring intently at her.

“You are so gorgeous when you cum for me,” he told her, closing his lips around the fingers that he’d had inside of her.

Seeing him moan softly at the taste of her made something within her turn wild, and she grabbed his shoulders and pulled him up, flipping him so she was hovering over him. Her fingers flew to his belt, sliding it off so hastily that she almost ripped off a couple of his belt loops.

“Neris, you don’t — ” He began, only to be shushed by her as she pulled off his jeans, his underwear following quickly after.

She began to gently stroke his length, his eyes fluttering closed as a soft groan left his lips. Without warning she ran her tongue from base to tip, causing something like a choked sob to bubble up from his chest. His fingers knotted in her hair as she took him in her mouth, massaging his length with her tongue as she stroked what she couldn’t fit inside her mouth. For all her skills, deepthroating wasn’t one of them, but oh how she tried. With each time she lowered her mouth around him, she pressed him deeper and deeper until he hit the back of her throat, fighting desperately against her gag reflex. She just wanted to keep hearing those sinful sounds he was making.

“Princess, you gotta stop,” he gasped. “I want to cum in you, baby girl.”

Once she released him, he hastily flipped them so he was once again above her, his lips pressing another bruising kiss to hers. He ran the tip of his cock teasingly against her entrance, causing her to whine and buck her hips against him.

“You want me, princess?” He growled in her ear.

“Yes,” she begged. “Please.”

Sweet Pea plunged his length into her, both of them releasing twin moans as his thick length stretched her slick walls. His worked his hips at a torturously slow pace, showing a restraint Neris wished he wouldn’t.

“Faster,” she pleaded, her fingernails dragging down his back. “Harder. Sweets, please.”

He drew in a breath through his teeth, his lips curled into a snarl as he threw away his control. He lifted her hips up, pressing her knees back so her thighs were against her chest, hitting the deepest points within her with sharp, rapid thrusts.

“Oh fuck, princess, you feel so good,” he grunted.

His name was the only thing she could say, falling from her lips like a mantra as tears pricked the corners of her eyes. She could feel the warmth growing, his fingers leaving bruises in their wake as he gripped her hips to thrust into her, her back arched as she tried to meet each one.

“That’s it, baby girl.” he purred. “Just like that. Fuck yourself on my cock.”

Neris gave a sharp cry as he hit a particular spot within her that made her see stars, feeling herself balancing dangerously on the precipice.

“Sweets,” she panted. “I’m gonna — I’m — oh _god_.”

One of his hands left her hips, sliding to her her clit and rubbing his thumb against it as his mouth encased one of her breasts, sucking and nibbling at her nipple.

“Cum, baby girl,” he whispered against her skin. “Soak my cock.”

With a groan that became a sharp cry, Neris felt the coil within her snap; she could hear him groan as her walls constricted around him, her release flooding her as her eyes rolled back in her head. His hips never stopped moving, pumping through her wetness as it dripped from her and soaked his thighs.

She brought her lips to his, pressing frantic kisses against his as the oversensitivity sent pleasant aftershocks rippling through her.

“Sweets,” she whimpered, feeling his rhythm becoming unsteady as he neared his climax. “Cum for me. Cum in me, baby.”

With a deep groan, his hips stuttered, his tempo increasing as he chased his own pleasure. Half of her name became a choked moan as his body shook, spilling inside of her as he came. With shaking arms he held himself above her as they basked in the afterglow of their orgasms, pulling out of her with a sigh as his heart rate slowed. He collapsed beside her, gathering her into his arms and pressing his lips to her temple gently.

“I’m not even gonna lie,” he chuckled softly, the sound warming her. “I loved hearing you moan my name like that.”

Neris giggled, “And I loved saying it.”

“So,” he began, shifting so he could capture her lips in a soft kiss. “What do you think of my stamina now?”

Neris laughed. “Very impressive,” she purred. “Every inch of you is impressive.”

Sweet Pea grinned widely, kissing her once more before pulling the covers over them.

“Stay the night?” He asked.

“Even if I could walk, I wouldn’t leave,” she told him, snuggling up next to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't write contraception into my stories cause I feel it makes the flow a bit clunky, but just know it's essentially implied. There will be no babies in the future.


	9. Chapter 9

Neris woke up before Sweet Pea, momentarily disoriented as she looked around before remembering the previous night’s adventures. She looked down at Sweet Pea’s still sleeping form, his mouth slightly open. She smiled softly as she got out of the bed, careful not to wake him. She grabbed the plaid shirt he’d worn the night before, throwing it on and slipping into her panties before padding out to the kitchen.

There wasn’t much in the fridge, typical for a high school boy, but there was enough for scrambled eggs, bacon and toast — a nice, traditional breakfast for a relatively untraditional couple. The smell of the frying bacon must’ve woken Sweet Pea up, and she had to stifle a giggle when she turned to look at him when she heard him walk out of his bedroom.

His hair was more than tousled; parts of it were sticking straight up. A hazy smile crossed his lips when he saw her wearing his shirt.

“Mm,” he mumbled, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind and kissing her neck softly. “You look good in my shirt.” Neris smiled as he pressed another kiss against her skin, not really noticing when he paused and stiffened slightly. “What the hell?” He grumbled, pulling the collar aside and exposing her breasts.

“What?” Neris wondered, not understanding his disgruntled reaction.

“Where are the hickies I left?” He sputtered. “I left a lot of them, and they’re gone!”

She chuckled, “Accelerated healing, remember?”

He gave a light scoff, clearly put out that no one would be able to see the marks he’d left on her. The relocated to the couch to eat breakfast, the crispy bacon lifting his mood slightly. He hummed slightly as she ate, a thought creeping unbidden into her mind.

“Christmas is a few weeks away,” she remarked, Sweet Pea making a noise of agreement. “Huh.”

Sweet Pea looked over to her, his brows furrowing slightly as he noticed her distant expression. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” she nodded vaguely. “It hadn’t really occurred to me until now that it’ll be my first Christmas alone. Okay, not alone,” she corrected, noticing the partially offended look he was giving her, “but without my pack. I just...I dunno, feel a little lost.”

“I’m your pack now,” he stated simply.

Neris couldn’t help the blush that dusted her cheeks, giggles escaping her.

“Cute,” he grinned.

“Well, what are you doing?” She wondered.

He shrugged. “Probably the same as always. The Serpents have an annual tradition of giving to Toys for Tots and Meals on Wheels, so I’ll help out at the Wyrm with that. And then Christmas day I’m usually at Toni’s granddad’s trailer with her and Fangs.”

“Would you want to spend Christmas with me?” She asked tentatively, bracing herself in case the answer was negative.

He smiled softly at her. “I’d like that. Would you mind if I asked the others to come too? It’s sort of our own tradition to spend Christmas together, but if you don’t want them to come — ”

“I’d love to have them over for Christmas,” she cut him off with a smile of her own.

It was roughly a week later when those involved in Kevin’s Secret Santa arrangement. Neris had thankfully had her name chosen by Cheryl — she shuddered to think what she might’ve gotten if her Secret Santa had turned out to be Reggie.

“It’s the Blossom family maple syrup,” Cheryl informed her as Neris pulled the glass bottle out of the box. “Before daddy...went to the dark side, this was our pride and joy.”

“Thank you, Cheryl,” Neris smiled sweetly, not mentioning that she didn’t really care for maple syrup. “I really appreciate it.”

Kevin, who’d left the group to grab the next gift, returned to his place between Cheryl and Veronica, handing the latter an envelope. “Veronica, it’s your turn.”

“Hmm,” Veronica hummed as she took the contents out of the envelope. “Oh. A gift certificate for a couples’ massage,” her eyebrows were raised in surprise, her eyes darting to Archie. “Thanks, Josie.”

The pair had split up the night of FP’s would-have-been retirement party, though Neris was a little fuzzy on the details. Either she didn’t tell him she loved him when she did, or she didn’t  love him at all. Either way, the lack of those three words had made for a relationship indefinitely on hold.

“You can go with Betty, or your mom…” Josie attempted to ease the awkwardness, no doubt having bought the gift while ‘Varchie’ was still a thing.

“Or I can go with your mom, if you want,” Reggie offered in his usual tactless manner.

“Oh, dear God, can we please get this torture over with?” Cheryl lamented.

“Betty, you’re next and mercifully last,” Kevin agreed.

“Well, I think I know who picked my name based on these wrapping skills,” Betty grinned at Archie as she held the plaid papered box on her lap. Ripping open the paper, a soft, wistful smile crossed her lips as she held a square object in her hand. “Archie,” she cooed.

“My dad and I were cleaning out the garage and I found it,” Archie told her, Veronica and Jughead both looking at the pair uncomfortably.

Just like Veronica and Archie, Betty and Jughead had ended their relationship. Neris knew Jughead hadn’t been happy with Betty doing the Serpent dance, but to break up with her? She was surprised, to say the least.

Betty chuckling lightly in response, holding the gift so they could see it was a small record in a paper sleeve.

“Swiss Family Robinson?” Veronica wondered, reading the title on the record.

“Yeah, It's this old read-a-long record we used to listen to when we were, like, five,” Betty informed them, a wide smile never leaving her face. “Oh my god. I love it, Arch. Thank you.”

“Hey, Merry Christmas,” Moose greeted them as he walked into the student lounge, a crutch under one arm and Midge supporting him under his other.

“Moose,” Reggie cried out, jumping on top of the small table between the seats to get to his friend, wrapping his friend in a warm hug.

Kevin, too, got up to greet Moose. Josie wrapped Midge in a hug as well, the rest of the group welcoming their friend back from their places in the seats.

“Well, I’m gonna jet,” Neris told her friends, grabbing her school bag and slinging it over her shoulder. “I’m glad you’re up and about, Moose.”

“Thanks,” he gave her a half smile.

“Where are you going?” Kevin wondered. “Are you skipping school?”

“Gonna do a little holiday charity work,” she grinned, waving to her friends and heading out of the student lounge.

She made a quick pit stop at her house to load the carefully wrapped presents into her car, both her trunk and backseat stuffed with boxes, and made her way to the Whyte Wyrm. She grabbed a couple presents and cradled them under her arms as she entered the bar.

“I know they said ‘beware of Greeks bearing gifts’, but I swear I have good intentions,” she joked, her eyes skimming the interior for Sweet Pea.

He stood up, a shocked look on his face, and walked up to her, Fangs trailing behind. “What are you doing here?”

“Viva la Christmas!” She grinned, handing the boxes over to Fangs. “I don’t know the Spanish word for Christmas.”

“Navidad,” Fangs informed her simply, adding the boxes to the pile of already wrapped presents.

“Ah, the song makes so much more sense now,” she nodded knowingly. “There’s more in my car; can you guys help?”

“We don’t take charity from Northsiders,” a Serpent sneered at her from beside the bar.

“Wait, let me get this straight, you don’t take donations to a charity you’re supporting?” Neris wondered sarcastically. “That’s not very Christmas-like.”

“Wait, are you that girl that flipped the Ghoulie?” Another one asked, this one looking to be closer to Neris’ age — physically speaking.

“She is,” Sweet Pea announced proudly, draping an arm over her shoulder as he looked down at her. “Still need help getting the rest out of your car?”

Neris blinked. “Yes. Nothing has changed since I walked in.”

He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Right.”

Once the packages still in her car had joined the pile, Neris sat across from Sweet Pea helping them wrap the remaining presents.

“You didn’t have to do this, you know,” he told her softly.

“I know,” she replied. “But I wanted to.”

“What is all this?” Jughead asked, walking up to the group as he arrived.

“It’s a Serpent tradition,” Toni replied, surveying the pile of gifts on one of the pool tables. “Every year, we give back to the Southside. Toys for Tots, Meals on Wheels, kids and old folks living alone.”

“The Hells Angels do it,” Fangs justified with a small smirk.

“I’m always down for charitable works,” Jughead nodded, looking towards the couch where Neris and Sweet Pea were seated. “So, why are you here Neris?”

Neris reached over, covering Sweet Pea’s eyes with a single hand. “Don’t tell him,” she stage whispered, “but I’m just doing this to impress him.”

“Um, he can still hear you,” Fangs pointed out.

“Whaaaat?” Neris feigned surprise as she pulled her hand away, Sweet Pea grinning at her antics. “Oh nooooo.”

“You’re dumb,” he rolled his eyes.

“But you think it’s cute,” she teased.

“You guys are both gross,” Toni snorted.

“Hey, have you seen my dad?” Jughead wondered.

“Why aren’t you in school?” FP asked as he descended the stairs from the upper level of the Wyrm, Tall Boy trailing after him, as if on cue.

“It’s a half-day before break,” Jughead announced.

“Well, in that case, you can hold down the fort here, Jug,” his father decided, patting his son on the back.

“Or I could come with you guys,” he offered.

“Nice try. The answer’s no.” FP shut him down.

“We do need another set of hands, boss,” Tall Boy reminded him.

“There you go,” Jughead replied. “Let me pull my weight. Dad...I don’t know what the Snake Charmer has you doing — ”

“Sweet Pea, you’re with us,” FP cut him off, calling over his son’s shoulder.

Sweet Pea’s eyes darted from FP to Neris and back to FP before he got up and pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head. “I’ll be back later,” he told her softly as he left with FP and Tall Boy.

As Sweet Pea’s large frame went through the door of the Wyrm, Neris got up as well and made her way towards Jughead.

“Okay, spill,” she demanded gently.

“It’s nothing,” he attempted to brush her off.

“You know it isn’t, so don’t even try,” Neris pressed. “Sweet Pea and I are...look, if he’s gotten pulled into some unsafe nonsense then I want to protect him.”

“You can’t protect him from this,” Jughead sighed.

“Let me decide for myself, Jug,” Neris pinned him with a steely glare.

Jughead sighed. “There’s a Serpent they call the Snake Charmer. Penny Peabody. She roped my dad into her business because of me. I went to her for help to get my dad out of prison, but — ”

“There was a price,” Neris realized grimly. “There’s always a price. And now more people are being roped in to paying it.” Jughead opened his mouth, presumably to apologize, but Neris cut him off. “I’m not blaming you. I’m blaming her. What do you plan to do about it?”

Jughead sighed, “I don’t know.”

“I have a few ideas, but they all end in homicide,” she remarked.

“My dad is acting like he’s cornered,” Jughead went on. “The only things I can think of is to either convince him to cut her out, or make Penny see she doesn’t have any power anymore.”

Neris’ eyebrows furrowed. “Power? You talk as if she has something on you. Like, blackmail.”

“Video surveillance,” he revealed. “She had me to a drug run to Greendale and probably planned it so I’d be filmed and then be forced into doing more and more favors for her.”

“Well, shit,” Neris breathed.

Neris couldn’t really focus on wrapping Christmas presents after Jughead admission, Jughead himself leaving the Wyrm for the comfort of his home as it seemed he wasn’t in the Christmas spirit either. She planned on hanging around the Wyrm as late as she could given her Northsider status, though thankfully it was only a couple of hours after he left that she got a text from Sweet Pea letting her know he was back..

He hadn’t mentioned wanting to see her, but that’s exactly what he’d be doing.

“So, that thing FP asked you to do,” she began once he’d let her into his trailer.

“It’s nothing,” Sweet Pea shrugged. “Just a job he needed help on.”

Neris nodded softly. “And did you know it was drugs before or after he’d asked?”

Sweet Pea looked at her in surprise. “How did you know….” his shock morphed into realization. “Jughead. He told you, didn’t he? Of course, he did. He just doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut.”

“What, you’re getting angry over that?” Neris huffed. “The Serpents were dead set against joining the Ghoulies because they’re a bunch of low-life drug runners. Now this Penny person is turning the Serpents into the same thing.”

“You’re wrong,” Sweet Pea argued roughly. “We’re just helping her the same way she’d helped us. It’s loyalty. I thought you understood what that meant.”

Neris was silent for a moment. “I understand loyalty. I don’t understand blind faith. Call me when you learn how to make the distinction.”

Without waiting for a reply, she left.

Neris waited a full two hours before taking matters into her own hands, for which she was actually kind of proud of herself. She found a couple of older Serpents who were hanging outside the Whyte Wyrm that she’d seen around Tall Boy, figuring they’d know where to find Penny and they’d be all too willing to tell her once she used her abilities on them.

Thankfully, she was right. With the address in hand and no actual plan in mind other than pain Neris made her way to a nondescript warehouse in the Southside.

As she drove to Penny’s hideout, she got a text on her phone from Sweet Pea.

_You’re right. It was blind faith. I’m sorry. We’re taking care of it tonight._

So, Jughead had his own plan and was kicking it into gear that same night as Neris. She could work with this.

Neris knocked sharply on the door, worrying for a moment that she was too early and Penny wasn’t even there yet, though those fears were quickly put to rest when a woman with fried blonde hair and thick black eyeliner opened the door.

“Who are you?” The woman wondered unimpressed.

Neris smiled sweetly. “You must be the Snake Charmer, Penny. Right?”

“Who’s asking?”

“Me, duh.” Neris chuckled, brushing past Penny and into the warehouse. “I’d say ‘nice place’, but I’m not really a fan of lying. It’s a shithole.”

“Who the hell are you?” Penny snapped.

“I’m just here to settle some business,” Neris replied, spinning to face the other woman, her hair fanning around her as she turned.

Penny scoffed. “Business? What business do _you_ have with _me_?”

“Well, when I say business I really mean pleasure,” Neris corrected impishly. “Because it’ll be so fucking gratifying beating your face in.”

This time Penny laughed. “Are you crazy? You must be if you’re threatening me. Do you know who I am?”

“I think the correct question is: do I look like I have any reason to be afraid of you?” Neris asked darkly, flashing her harpy eyes at the snake charmer.

For a normal siren, the entire eye would have been blacked out when they shifted into their harpy form. For Neris, however, her harpy state had been altered due to the Strophalos branded on her arm. Crimson red veins contrasted against the obsidian black hue of her sclera, coming to the center where her iris became a bright, unsettling orange. Penny gasped loudly, taking fearful steps back.

“Oh good, you’re scared,” Neris smiled. “And you should be.”

She didn’t want to kill the woman — well, she did, but she knew if she did then Jughead would be denied his well earned revenge — but beat the bitch out of her? Yes please.

The woman bled easily. Only three punches to her face and already her lip was split and her nose bleeding; then again, Neris was putting full force behind her punches. Penny tried to fight back, and tried to run away on a couple occasions, but Neris foiled her attempts every time.

Finally satisfied with her work, Neris returned her eyes to normal as she grabbed a coil of rope conveniently nearby and bound Penny’s wrists and ankles, leaving her on the ground where she had fallen after a particularly hard punch. Neris fished in Penny’s pockets for her phone, ignoring the woman’s weak protests, and snapped it in half in front of the woman’s face once she’d found it. She tossed the phone into a nearby barrel before rifling through the satchel she assumed belonged to Penny and pulled out a laptop, tossing it into the barrel as well. Looking around the expanse of the warehouse, Neris found a bottle of solvent and dumped it into the barrel and tossing the lighter she’d kept in her pocket in after it.

The contents of the barrel burst into flame. As the warmth licked her skin, Neris turned to face Penny with a mildly irritated look. “Well, great. Now I have to buy a new lighter.”

“What the hell did you do that for?” Penny sputtered.

“The blackmail you were using against Jughead,” Neris reminded her, “literally just went up in flames.” There was a pounding on the warehouse door, causing another smile to grace Neris’ lips. “Round two has started.”

She made her way to the door and pulled it open to see Jughead standing there, his eyes widening in shock when he saw who was on the other side.

“Neris? What are you doing here?” Jughead asked incredulously.

“I was just getting her warmed up,” Neris grinned, pointing to Penny. “Did I go too far? Nice crowbar, by the way.”

“Jughead,” Penny slurred through her swollen lip. “Get me out of these ropes, huh?”

“You’re in no position to make demands,” Neris told Penny coldly. “Now be a good girl and shut _up_.” She turned back to Jughead, an innocent smile on her face. “Your turn.”

Jughead looked at her with exasperation and annoyance before calling for his backup. A small collection of Serpents wearing snake masks straight out of a Goosebumps book walked into the warehouse, following Jughead’s orders and pulling a black sack over Penny’s head and dragging her out.

“Get out of here, Neris. Go home,” Jughead instructed her coldly. “You shouldn’t have done this.”

“You’re welcome,” she muttered sarcastically.

She looked over to see the masked Serpent that was undoubtedly Sweet Pea. He gave her a short nod which she returned before making her way to her car. All she had to do now was go home and wait for Sweet Pea to join her.

Neris waited, partially on edge, for Sweet Pea to come over.

Would he even come over? Would he be angry like Jughead? Would he be impressed like he had been when she flipped the Ghoulie? Was it different because Penny was a Serpent?

Urgent knocks against her door had her already nervous heart beat a little faster. Did Sweet Pea come alone? Was Jughead tagging along to yell at her some more?

No, Sweet Pea was alone, looking tired. “Jughead’s pissed at you for getting involved,” he stated simply as he walked through the door and dropped his jacket across the back of her couch.

 _Was that it?_ “I know,” Neris replied, her nerves calming when she saw that at least Sweet Pea wasn’t irritated with her. “But I’d do it again. You were the one that said the Serpents always have each others’ back, and so does my pack. You called yourself my pack, so if someone messes with you they’re gonna have to answer to me — just like I’d hope you’d do for me.” She scoffed lightly. “Honestly, Jughead was lucky that I didn’t tear open her ribcage and stuff her heart down her own throat. It’s no less than what she deserves for trying to drag the Serpents down to the Ghoulie’s level — mmpf!”

She gave a noise of surprise as Sweet Pea’s lips came crashing on hers, desperate hands grabbing at her and pulling her close.

“You have no idea how gorgeous you are when you get all territorial,” he purred, his lips returning to hers in short, sweet pecks as he backed her towards the stairs. “Where’s your room?”

Neris giggled, reluctantly disengaging herself from his arms and leading him upstairs. As soon as he’d closed her bedroom door behind him his lips went straight for her neck, biting and sucking harshly to leave marks behind as he guided her towards her bed.

“I kinda hate how quickly you heal,” he grumbled, leaving another purple mark behind. “Want everyone to see you’re mine.”

“I can still leave marks on you,” she purred as she pulled him down to the bed, earning a wolfish smile as he settled himself between her legs.

“Just not too close to my tattoo this time,” he requested as he pulled off his shirt, Neris doing the same with hers. “I got some shit for that.”

Neris hummed in agreement as his hands ran the expanse of her stomach before going down to her jeans, pulling them off swiftly and leaving her in just a bra and panties. His fingers kneaded her thighs as his attentions were turned on her breasts, purple marks soon appearing wherever he decided as his took off his pants. He wasn’t away from her long, pushing himself between her legs once his pants had been tossed away and pressing his hardened length against her center.

He held her tightly, swallowing each gasp and moan that fell from her lips as he ground against her. He was torturing her, she decided, as he began trailing kisses down the length of her neck as his thumb toyed with the cup up her bra.

“Do you want this off?” He purred, nibbling softly at her collarbone.

“Yes,” she breathed, and he gladly complied.

Once they were bared to him, he cupped her breasts roughly, kneading and massaging them as he watched her intently. He truly understood the meaning of a siren call as he listened to the gasps and moans that poured from her lips as he rolled and pinched her hardened peaks between his fingers,

Her hands gripped his forearms as he played with her, drawing out desperate cries as the warmth settled in her belly. She hadn’t noticed their first night together, but the calluses on his fingers created a delicious friction as he touched her.

“I love your breasts,” he murmured, brushing his lips against a particularly dark mark on her neck. “...so soft...so perfect…”

“Sweets,” Neris whimpered.

“Patience, princess,” he chuckled. “You were such a good girl tonight; you deserve a reward.”

“This isn’t a reward,” she whined. “This is torture!”

His only response was another chuckle, though there was some relief as he rolled his hips against hers. He grunted into her neck as she bucked against him, rubbing her soaked panties along his hardened length. She wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him closer as she ground against  him.

“Does this mean you’re ready for more, princess?” He asked, his voice low as he fought against the moan caught in his throat. Neris nodded, earning another dark chuckle from the raven-haired man. “Use your words, baby girl.”

“I want more,” Neris gasped.

His fingers left her breasts, skimming down the soft skin of her stomach and trailing over the lace of her panties, dipping inside the fabric and brushing his fingertips against her sensitive folds and had her quivering against her mattress. He wanted to keep her like that, desperate and writhing underneath him — it was a huge boost to his ego to have such a powerful creature like her so soft for him. But, he promised her a reward, and he always kept his promises.

He pulled the lace fabric away from her dripping core, kissing down her stomach and teasing her slit with the tips of his lips. She mewled, bucking up to meet his teasing mouth as her legs fell apart wider to give him better access. He swiped his tongue along her dripping folds, drinking her in as she cried out above him.

“You’re so wet, baby girl,” he cooed, “and you taste like fucking _ambrosia_.”

His fingers tug into her thighs as he held her open to him, lapping at her folds and drinking in her essence. Her head was thrown back in pleasure, each graze of his teeth against her clit sending jolts of pleasure through her. His lips closed around the sensitive bud as he eased two fingers deep within her, causing a cry to fall from her lips as her fingers threaded in his dark locks, her previous concern about accidentally hurting him overwhelmed by her lust.

Sweet Pea groaned as he felt her fingers tighten in his hair, feeling her drip around his fingers as he added a third, how she rocked against his hand as he pumped his fingers in and out of her. He curled his fingers within her as he gently scraped his teeth against her clit, moaning as he felt her tighten around his fingers as she cried out his name.

Neris whimpered as she felt the curling warmth turn into burning pleasure, until she came with a sharp cry of his name as her slick walls fluttered around his fingers. Slipping his fingers out of her, Sweet Pea swiped his tongue against her folds to collect the juices that had escaped him before leaning up and crashing his lips to hers, letting her taste herself.

But it wasn’t enough. Even with how achingly sensitive she’d become under his ministrations, she needed more of him.

“Sweets, please,” she begged, wrapping her arms around his neck and weakly rubbing herself against him.

“Tell me what you want, princess,” he smiled, the expression oddly sweet against the deep timbre of his voice. “I told you last time that I wanted you to say it.”

Neris whined, her brain struggling to remember what words were. “Please...I want...I need...Sweets, please. Please, fuck me.”

With one hand, his other still wrapped firmly around her waist, he reached down and pushed his underwear away. His lips crashed desperately into hers, pressing his length against her soaked core as her body molded to his. She nibbled his bottom lip, tugging slightly; he groaned and rocked against her, his cock creating a delicious but unsatisfying friction against her.

Sweet Pea took her wrists and pulled her arms up over her head, pinning them to her pillow as a wicked smirk crossed his features, his hips twisting slowly against her. Neris whined, bucking against him desperately as he stared down at her with dark, lustful eyes. He shifted so he was gripping her wrists with one of his large hands, his other reaching down to run the tip of his cock against her folds, teasingly pushing the head within her but never sinking his length into her.

“Patience, baby girl,” he purred. “This may be your reward, but I don’t want to rush it.” His hips gave small teasing thrusts, watching as her face crumpled in desperation. “I love how wet you get for me. You’re just _dripping_.”

Slowly he pressed his length into her, relishing the low moan she gave as his thick cock stretched her. She threw her head back, her mouth falling open as he rocked into her slowly, both hands now gripping her wrists. Her fingers stretched and curled, desperate to touch him but unwilling to break out of his hold.

“Harder,” she whispered hoarsely, the slow pace becoming torturous, “faster.”

He drew his length out slowly, almost leaving her completely, and for a moment she thought he was going to ignore her request. But a choked moan left her lips as he slammed back in, hitting a spot deep within her that made her back arch and a sharp cry leave her lips. He set a merciless pace, pounding deep within her as his lips attached to her neck, laying yet another mark on her skin.

She could feel herself coming unraveled, her nerves too on edge for any slow build to her ecstasy. She felt her world tilt as her orgasm swamped her, hearing Sweet Pea moan her name against her neck as he felt her tighten around him.

His brutal pace never slowed as he fucked her through her orgasm, his hands leaving her wrists and coming to settle on her hips. The oversensitivity of her release pickled at her skin as he chased his own, her nails clawing at the skin of his shoulders.

“I want you to cum for me again,” Sweet Pea growled, “Cum for me, baby girl.”

A hand slipped in between them, his fingers rubbing against her clit furiously. It was too much too soon, her mind growing numb, her world narrowing until it was just Sweet Pea as he pushed his cock into her. Her vision darkened as a loud, keening moan tore from her throat as he coaxed another orgasm from her. His pace faltered, his trusts becoming uneven as he whispered praises into her ear and emptied himself inside of her.

With a soft moan, he slipped out of her and lay next to her, pulling her close and peppering kisses on her forehead and nose.

“Thank you, by the way,” he mumbled into her hair, stifling a yawn, “for doing what you did. I like you getting all territorial over me.”

She chuckled lightly and pressed a soft kiss on his chest, right above his dusky nipple, making him shiver. “You’re mine. No one messes with you and gets away with it.”

He laughed softly, the sound vibrating through his chest. “And you’re mine,” he whispered, carding his fingers through her hair.


	10. Chapter 10

Neris had been a slave to her kitchen the previous day, and she still felt woefully unprepared Christmas morning. She looked at the foods she had spread out on her counter. Gingerbread waffles with cream cheese frosting, sweet potato and bacon hash, eggnog coffee cake muffins, and feta and dill scrambled eggs.

“Do I have enough?” She wondered. “Is it too fancy? I should’ve just done bacon and eggs, right? They’re gonna hate it. Oh god, we planned to do gifts before eating; it’s gonna be cold and inedible by the time we eat — ”

“Neris, you’ve gotta calm down,” Sweet Pea cooed, wrapping his arms around her waist as he stood behind her. “They’re not gonna hate it. And if you’re worried about the food getting cold, we’ll just eat before gifts. There. Problem solved.”

Neris whined, sinking into Sweet Pea’s arms. “I just want everything to be perfect.”

“Toni and Fangs already love you,” he comforted her.

“I’m not talking about them, I’m talking about Toni’s grandfather,” she corrected. “FP might be the King of the Serpents, but her grandfather  _ started _ the friggin’ Serpents.”

Sweet Pea snorted, rubbing her arms gently. Her doorbell rang, causing her to jump slightly in his arms.

“Oh god, princess,” he chuckled. “If you want Tom to like you, you’ve definitely got to calm down.” 

Sweet Pea opened the door, greeting his friends and Toni’s grandfather and inviting them inside. Toni and Fangs hugged Neris, putting the presents they’d brought under the tree in the family room.

Toni’s grandfather, Thomas, cleared his throat awkwardly as he stood in the foyer. “Thank you for inviting us.”

“He didn’t want to come,” Toni revealed as she and Fangs returned to the foyer, “but I annoyed him into it.”

“No, I completely understand, and thank you for coming.” Neris smiled softly. “Do you guys want to eat first and then we can do presents?”

With the agreement of the others, she led them into the kitchen, where Toni and Fangs marvelled at the food she’d prepared.

“Sorry if I went overboard,” Neris grimaced slightly. “I just wanted everything to be perfect.”

“I helped, too,” Sweet Pea beamed proudly.

“Is it safe to eat?” Fangs teased.

Sweet Pea grabbed him in a headlock and Fangs play punched at him to get him to let go.

“It looks really good,” Toni assured her.

“Where did you learn to cook like this,” Thomas asked. “My granddaughter says you live alone.”

“Ah, yeah. My friend’s mom taught me a lot of what I know, the rest I picked up from the internet,” Neris told him. “My mom…”

She trailed off, not wanting to bring the mood down but fearing she already had.

“We’re her family now,” Sweet Pea voiced, having released Fangs and taking her hand.

Neris smiled warmly at him. She could hear Fangs make a soft noise at the cute scene in front of him, and she was surprised to see Thomas giving a soft smile at them. Toni, however, gagged, though after her grandfather swatted at her she grinned at her obviously love-struck friends.

“I’m hungry,” Fangs announced, effectively breaking the moment.

“Alright,” Neris chuckled. “Let’s eat.” 

With the new school year came a new school term. Neris walked through the halls towards the student lounge to meet up with her friends, proudly wearing the Christmas present Sweet Pea had given her. A silver necklace with a small serpent pendant that fell just under the hollow of her throat. Since he couldn’t leave his mark on her skin, he found another way to do it.

“Mornin’ guys,” Neris greeted her friends, sitting next to Kevin. “How were your Christmases?”

“It was good,” Betty replied. 

“That necklace…” Kevin trailed off, pointing to Neris’ neck.

“Oh,” Neris touched her necklace gently. “It’s one of my Christmas gifts.”

“Are you dating a Serpent?” Kevin almost sounded accusatory.

“Wow, you got that from a  _ necklace _ ?” Neris remarked sarcastically. “Step aside Sherlock.”

“The Serpents are bad news, Neris,” Kevin lectured her. “I know Jughead’s one now,” he sent a sympathetic look at Betty, “but one good apple does not unspoil the bunch.”

“Need I remind you that you were at a Serpent event. The drag race? And you were ogling both the Serpents  _ and _ the Ghoulies, who — need I remind you — are about a billion times worse than the Serpents. So, why don’t you take your hypocrisy and shove it up your — ”

“Okay,” Betty cut her off, “let's not start the new school year off with a fight, okay?”

Archie and Veronica walked into the school lounge kissing, their relationship resuming during the holiday break. It was either Archie’s near-death experience before he and Betty caught the school janitor red-handed as the Black Hood, or Veronica realizing her feelings — or perhaps both — that brought them back together. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for Betty and Jughead.

“Students of Riverdale High,” the PA system crackled as Weatherbee spoke. “This is your principal speaking. E-mails have been sent to your parents, but effective immediately, Southside High School is shut down, and its students will be transferred to other schools in the district, including this one.”

“Oh my god,” Kevin mouthed as the students broke out into surprised murmurs and gasps.

“I believe the statement we’re releasing — ” Weatherbee continued.

“Okay, guys, let's not overreact,” Veronica interjected to calm her friends and those around them.

“ — will address your concerns and theirs. You should be receiving it shortly. I’m sure you have many questions. But it goes without saying, we are welcoming these students with open minds, hearts and arms. If you want to assist with their transition, we ask volunteers to come to the office to receive copies of the transfer students’ course schedules or locker assignments. Thank you. That is all.”

“Wait, what does that — what does that mean?” Archie wondered.

“It means Jughead’s coming back,” Betty remarked.

“Betty, are you ready for that?” Kevin asked gently.

“Of course,” she assured them. “We’re fine.”

“But why is this happening now?” Archie pressed.

“Who knows,” Veronica shook her head. “It’s probably some bizarre, Byzantine town ordinance we couldn’t possibly understand. And in the meantime, let’s receive these exiles as if they were our own flesh and blood. Who’s in? Hmm?”

“Well, I know Neris is in,” Kevin snarked lightly. “She’ll want to welcome her new boyfriend.”

“And Kevin’s in, too,” Neris returned. “Maybe he can  _ get  _ a boyfriend.”

“Cool it, guys,” Betty admonished.

But, despite their bickering, Neris and kevin helped Veronica and Archie set up the welcoming booth at the end of the day in the main hallway. Neris had to talk her out of streamers, knowing that kind of pomp was entirely wrong for the circumstance.

“Princess,” Sweet Pea sang through the phone as he called her after school. “Come hang out with us; we’re celebrating!”

Neris snorted. “The big, bad Southsider is actually excited about coming over to the Northside?”

“Well, I’m more excited about being at the same school as my girlfriend — ” Neris made a small choking noise, caught off guard. “Hey, you okay? What happened?”

“Nothing, it’s just...you’ve never called me your girlfriend before.”

“Really?” He hummed. “Well, maybe not to your face.”

“That’s the most important face to say it to!” She chuckled.

“Well then I’ll say it to your face,” he laughed. “So, are you coming to the Wrym?”

“No, I think I’ll pass,” she sighed. “I’ve monopolized your time enough and Toni and Fangs might start getting annoyed with me.”

“You know they love you,” he reminded her. “Plus, we can sneak off and play a bit together.”

“That’s what I’m talking about,” she chuckled. “You go celebrate with your friends tonight and I’ll see you at school tomorrow. Boyfriend.”

She heard him laugh lightly on the other end of the call, “See you tomorrow, princess.”

The next day the new transfers arrived — the group of Serpents walking down the halls lead by Jughead, who in turn was flanked by Toni, Sweet Pea, and Fangs. They were met with the sight of Veronica’s welcoming committee, expecting either too much pep or a hostile environment. Sweet Pea glanced over at Neris, winking with a small smirk as she stood near Veronica. 

“Friends! On behalf of the students and faculty here at Riverdale High, welcome to your new school!” Veronica said brightly, met with the disbelieving grins of the Southside students. “To ease this transition, I’ve set up a registration desk where you can get your locker assignments, class schedules, and a list of sports and extracurriculars. We encourage each and every one of you to drink deeply from the cup that is fair Riverdale.”

“Stand down, Eva Peron!” Cheryl called from the top of the stairwell behind them, and they turned to see Cheryl and Reggie descending the stairs, a gaggle of dissenters trailing behind them.

“There’s the school spirit I so fondly remember,” Jughead retorted sarcastically.

“Cheryl,” Veronica droned. “No one invited Fascist Barbie to the party.”

“Wrong, Veronica,” Cheryl snipped as they reached the welcoming desk, crossing her arms over her chest. “No one invited Southside scum to our school.”

“Actually, they did,” Neris disagreed. “You remember the announcement Weatherbee made yesterday? That was an invite. Unless, you were too busy staring at yourself in the mirror to pay attention to anything around you. That’s your MO, right? Flagrant narcissism?”

“At least I have something to be narcissistic about,” Cheryl retorted, and Neris could clearly hear Sweet Pea snort in laughter, drawing Cheryl’s ire. “Listen up, Ragamuffins. I will not allow Riverdale High’s above average GPA to suffer because of classrooms that are overcrowded with underachievers. So please, do us all a favor, and find some other school to debase with your hardscrabble ways.”

“Why don’t you come over here and say that to my face?” Toni seethed, rounding the table to reach Cheryl. 

“Happily, Queen of the Buskers,” Cheryl bit back.

“Okay,” Archie stood in between them. “Guys, everyone, can we just put our Northside-Southside differences apart and start over? A new slate?”

Reggie made a noise in his throat as he disagreed. “You don’t speak for the Bulldogs, Andrews. And need I remind you, these greaser-snakes showed up at your place trying to kick your ass.”

“Need I remind you, he kinda deserved it?” Neris interjected plainly.

“Seriously?” Archie complained.

“I mean, you kinda did,” she shrugged. “You waved a gun in his face; how else would you expect him to react? Of course he was gonna try to beat you up.”

“Happy to finish what was started,” Sweet Pea growled as he pushed past Toni, only to be pulled back by Jughead.

“God, I am so over the toxic masculinity in this hallway right now,” Veronica ranted.

“All right,” Weatherbee’s voice broke in. “That’s enough pomp and circumstance. Everyone, let’s get to class. Now.”

As the crowd dispersed and they made their way to class, Jughead caught Neris by the elbow and pulled her aside, out of the way of the travelling students. She caught Sweet Pea’s eyes as he flashed a concerned look at her — Jughead might be part of the Serpents, but Sweet Pea knew how upset he’d been with her. But neris shook her head as she sent her boyfriend a reassuring smile.

“What’s up, Jughead?” She wondered, watching Sweet Pea out of the corner of her eye as he made his way to class.

“I wanna say that I’m sorry for how I acted after the whole Penny Peabody thing,” Jughead apologized. “Sweet Pea, Fangs and Toni have been championing for you pretty hard after it — Sweet Pea more than the others,” he remarked with a slight smirk, “and I know that what you did was for them.”

Neris gave a small sigh. “Look, Jug, in some way I can’t really blame you. Sure, I was upset that you didn’t thank me, but I also know you’re pretty concerned about keeping your personal life separate from the Serpents — hence this whole thing with Betty.”

“That’s not — ” He attempted to disagree.

“Be honest with yourself,” she cut him off gently, and he sighed. “I can understand wanting to protect everyone; just remember that sometimes you need protecting too. How about you consider what I did to Penny proof that I can take care of myself.”

“She called you a demon,” he revealed.

“Huh,” she mused. “That’s a new one. I’ve been called a monster before, but demon is a new one.”

“You must’ve really done a number on her,” he remarked. “I just wish I could’ve found the blackmail video she had of me.”

“Oh, I got rid of that,” Neris stated simply. “That fire in the barrel? Her phone and laptop. I couldn’t be sure if she had multiple copies.”

Jughead blinked for a moment. “Did we just become best friends?”

Neris snorted. “Were were not before?”

Next day at school, when the tensions from the previous day had only half-fizzled out, Jughead’s core group of friends sat with his ex’s in student lounge. Neris was curled up against Sweet Pea, his arm swung around her shoulder.

Veronica, Josie, and Kevin walked into the lounge and up to their friends to greet the new students, Veronica and Josie stopping on opposite sides next to Jughead. Kevin rounded the couch Neris and Sweet Pea were on to sit next to her.

“This is your boyfriend?” Kevin marvelled as he had given Sweet Pea the once over.

“You got a problem with that?” Sweet Pea raised a challenging eyebrow.

Kevin was momentarily silent, staring at Sweet Pea for another second before lowering his eyes to Neris’. “I stand corrected.”

Neris snorted as she nuzzled her boyfriend, reaching up and pressing a quick kiss on his jaw. “He thinks you’re handsome.”

Sweet Pea settled in his seat, a soft glow of pride around him. “Good. I am.”

Neris rolled her eyes as she grinned, looking over to Fangs who mirrored her gesture. 

“I don’t think we’ve properly met,” Veronica remarked, looking down at Toni. “Veronica Lodge.”

“Of the Park Avenue Lodges,” Jughead quipped in between bites out of his chip bag.

“Toni,” she remained seated, but reached up to shake Veronica’s hand. “Topaz.”

“Oh, like the purple-colored gemstone,” Veronica smiled. “Love it.”

“And I’m Josie McCoy,” Josie introduced. “Formerly of the Pussycats, now just Josie. And this is Kevin.” She waved over to Kevin, who smiled at the rest of the group.

“What’s your name?” Kevin asked Fangs, his eyes having immediately locked on the Serpent that was sitting across from him.

“Fogarty,” Fangs answered with his surname, pointing his Twizzler at Kevin. “Or you can call me Fangs. Your last name’s Keller, right?”

“How did you know that?” Kevin wondered.

“Joaquin and I used to hang out,” Fangs replied. “He talked about you all the time.”

“You guys!” Weatherbee’s gruff voice broke through the quiet of the student lounge, and they turned to see him staring directly at them. “Yes, you, come with me. Now!”

Not sure if he was talking to the Northside or Southside students — and not wanting to risk his wrath by asking for clarification — they all stood and followed him out of the lounge and into the hallway. They stopped at one of the Riverdale High crests embedded into the floor of the hallway, a green serpent messily spray painted on top of it. Reggie and a few of his Bulldogs were standing behind it, looking far too smug for Neris’ taste.

“Which of you defaced our school seal with this graffiti?” Weatherbee demanded.

“This is what they do, Principal Weatherbee,” Reggie drawled. “They tag their turf.”

“My God, Reggie, could you be anymore transparent?” Veronica wondered accusingly, and Reggie had the gall to nod, though it was unseen by Weatherbee.

“Effective immediately, no gang behavior of any kind will be tolerated at my school,” Weatherbee ordered. “As of this moment, no more Serpent jackets.”

“What?” Sweet Pea snapped.

“Are you kidding me?” Jughead pressed.

“No more Serpent jackets!” Weatherbee repeated forcefully. “All tattoos are gonna be covered. That means you too, Ms. Sangster. Possession of any gang paraphernalia whatsoever will lead to immediate suspension. Are we clear?” Whether or not he expected a verbal answer, he seemed at least somewhat satisfied with the groans and sighs of resignation from the students in front of him. “That’s all.”

Jughead levelled a dark glare at Reggie, who seemed unfazed, as the Serpents turned and stalked away. 

Sweet Pea stopped by Neris’ house the next morning, not only to give her a ride to school, but to help her cover the mark behind her ear. He hadn’t needed to do much to cover the tattoo on his neck, just wore a grey turtleneck under his signature plaid shirt.

“Seriously?” Neris huffed as she stared at him as he walked through her door. “You have it so easy.”

He snorted as he pulled a small, circular bandage out of the box. “It’s not my fault the demon that gave this to you didn’t put it in a more convenient place to cover up.”

She grumbled as she pulled her hair out of the way and turned around, tilting her head to grant him better access as he placed the bandage over the mark. Once he’d smoothed the edges down, he leaned over and sucked harshly on her neck, leaving a reddish-purple mark behind, grinning as Neris squealed in surprise.

“You know it’s going to be gone by the time we get to school,” she grumbled, rubbing the hickey he’d left as they left her house and walked towards his bike. 

“Doesn’t stop me from leaving them,” he grinned.

They met up with Toni and Fangs in the student lounge before class, both of them forgoing their usual Serpent garb. Just to be safe, since Weatherbee was still on the warpath, Neris had left her necklace at home, which Sweet Pea was thankfully understanding of.

Both Sweet Pea and Fangs were sitting, Toni standing next to Fangs and Neris perched on the arm of the chair Sweet Pea was occupying, her arms curled loosely around his neck. They were talking and laughing, though their expressions all dropped as they saw Jughead strutting in. Despite Weatherbee’s warning, Jughead was still wearing his Serpent jacket. They stared at him in disbelief, though he seemingly didn’t notice as he smiled at them.

“Oh, hey, guys, what’s up?” Jughead greeted nonchalantly as he made his way to the vending machine.

“Take it off,” Reggie ordered gruffly, stalking up to Jughead. “Take off that jacket, Rat Boy.” 

Behind him, the two Bulldogs that were sitting with Reggie stood also. Sweet Pea gently maneuvered himself out of Neris’ arms, standing up as Fangs did the same — ready in case the situation came to blows.

Jughead sighed as he turned to face Reggie and his cohorts, the Serpent trio and Neris making their way towards the pair. “Oh, Reggie. I don’t think you know what this jacket means, because you have no sense of honor. Or history…or loyalty.”

“That’s it,” Reggie snarled, lunging for Jughead, grabbing his jacket in a poor attempt to pull it off him.

Jughead fought back, and Reggie’s friends backed him up. Fangs and Sweet Pea jumped into the fray to Jughead’s defense, each taking a Bulldog of their own and landing multiple hits to their abdomens as Reggie and Jughead grappled.

Toni and Neris stood to the side, Toni running her hand through her hair with worry. Neris, on the other hand, felt more annoyed than anything else.

“Stop,” Neris commanded, using the voice she reserved for her manipulation abilities.

For your average siren, the male mental manipulation would only work if the siren was looking their target in the eye, and it only worked on one person at a time. Neris, however, had the Strophalos. She learned purely out of luck that those rules didn’t apply to her any more, but that she had to be extra careful because she never knew how wide her sphere of influence would go. She could tell a group to stab themselves in the leg and a poor, innocent passerby that overheard her would be forced to do the same.

Thankfully, it was a simple enough command that if it did affect all the males in the room — which Neris was pretty sure it did, since they all stopped their actions — no one would get hurt.

“You are absolutely ridiculous.” She shook her head, staring at the group. “You go on with your Alpha posturing bullshit, but you don’t realize that you’re about as intimidating as a half-eaten sandwich.”

“Yeah, Jones — ”

“I’m talking about you, Reggie Mantle,” Neris cut him off. “You and the rest of your plutocratic Northsiders have been spouting the same tired, classist bullshit since probably before I moved here and I’m bored with it.”

“What the hell?” He sputtered. “You’re a Northsider too.”

“I may live in the Northside, but that does not mean I’m a Northsider.” She clarified. “I am not. On. Your. Side. Now, are you going to cut out all this high school cliche antagonism?”

“You five,” Mr. Weatherbee shouted and they turned to see in in the doorway of the student lounge. He was gesturing to Reggie, Jughead, Fangs, Toni, and Sweet Pea, an angry look plastered on his features. “My office. Now.”

With aggravated sighs, they made their way out of the lounge, each sporting matching looks of irritation.

“Not a chance, Sangster,” Reggie hissed as he passed by her.

Neris curled her lip into a sneer as she trailed behind, following them to Mr. Weatherbee’s office even though she hadn’t been singled out. She’d be damned if Weatherbee was going to let Reggie get off scot free. Veronica was waiting there, no doubt having been the one to get Weatherbee’s attention. She stood off to the side as their principal doled out punishments, Neris hanging out just outside the office. She would have come inside but an icy glare from Weatherbee halted her in her steps.

“You all have a week’s detention for fighting,” Weatherbee lectured, thankfully including Reggie in the punishment. He stepped closer to Jughead in warning. “But I made myself clear to you, Mr. Jones. Take off that jacket, right now, or you’re suspended.”

“Please, Jughead, just — ” Veronica pleaded.

“Then I guess I'm suspended,” Jughead drawled, turning and leaving the Principal’s office and ultimately the school.

As the rest of the students left the principal’s office, Sweet Pea slung an arm around Neris’ shoulders and pulled her close to him.

“You broke your promise, you know,” he spoke lowly.

For a moment, she didn’t realize what he was talking about, but once it dawned on her she winced and cursed under her breath. “I’m sorry,” she whined. “I wasn’t trying to target you, it just happened.”

“A promise is still a promise,” he wasn’t budging. “And you broke it, which means you need to be punished.”

Neris stopped in her tracks, looking up at him with wide eyes. “Are you serious?”

He stared at her for a moment before breaking out into soft chuckles. “I was, but you look so worried I’m not sure I can go through with it.”

Neris grumbled and swatted him away. Laughing, he followed after her.

“Careful, princess,” he teased. “I might change my mind.”

Jughead returned to school, without his jacket, the next day. His father had talked some sense to him, an idea forming in his head on how to maintain the serpents within the walls of Riverdale High. But those thoughts quickly flew from his mind when he walked into the student lounge to see Toni and Sweet Pea, as well as a couple other Serpents, dressed in khakis and blue polos emblazoned with the Riverdale High crest. Sweet Pea had a light grey turtleneck underneath, Weatherbee’s continued efforts to cover Serpent tattoos.

“What the hell?” Jughead groaned, catching their attention. “Guys…”

Toni deflated a bit as she and Sweet Pea walked over to him.

“Weatherbee gave them to us,” she explained. “Said he understood that not every Southside student had the means to purchase Riverdale High acceptable clothes,” xhe exchanged a look with Sweet Pea. “He thinks this will help us fit in.”

“Where’s Fogarty?” Jughead wondered.

“He wouldn’t wear the uniform, so they got rid of him,” Sweet Pea explained. “Suspended him.”

“So our choices are conform or be cast out,” Jughead spelled out.

“Yeah,” Toni sighed.

Neris, who hadn’t yet seen her boyfriend and his new wardrobe, walked into the student lounge to find him. When her eyes landed on him, her eyes widened and her breath escaped her — just as it did when she first saw him — and she promptly turned on her heel and walked out of the lounge. Sweet Pea exchanged confused looks with his friends, only for them to deepen when Neris walked quickly back into the student lounge, grabbed Sweet Pea by the wrist, and pulled him out behind her.

He was moments away from asking her where they were going when he saw her reach out and open the door to the janitor’s closet. A smirk crossed his lips as she pulled him inside, her lips finding his the moment the door shut behind them. 

“What brought this on?” He chuckled, managing words in between kisses. 

“I don’t know, it’s just...seeing you like this…” she struggled to put words together. “You just looks so innocent.”

Sweet Pea growled, picking Neris up and pushing her up against the door as her legs wrapped around his waist. “And my naughty girl wants to ruin me, is that it?”

Neris moaned,tangling her fingers in his hair and pulling him back to her lips. She felt his fingers tightened around her thighs, pulling away from her to trail kisses down the side of her neck.

“No marks,” she whimpered.

“Why not?” He grumbled against her skin. “They’re just going to heal.”

“Do you want to be the one to explain their miraculous disappearance to our classmate?” She wondered.

Sweet Pea growled and hiked up her shirt to expose her breasts, biting and sucking marks into the skin above her bra. He was not one to be denied one of his favorite things. Neris closed her eyes, her head falling back against the wood of the door as soft moans left her mouth.

“Sweets,” she breathed, trying to pull him away from leaving yet another love bite on her skin. “Sweets, I wanna taste you.”

Sweet Pea stiffened, raising his dark eyes to meet hers. “Here?” Neris bit her lip and nodded. “Fuck, princess.”

His grip on her faltered, and she brought her legs down so her feet touched the floor. Her hands went eagerly to his pants, undoing his belt and the front of his jeans as he pressed his palms against the door to hold his weight.

She pulled his jeans down as she went to her knees, licking her lips and glancing up at him as his length was freed. His eyes were dark as he looked down at her, his breathing heavy. She dipped her head forward, taking him into her mouth. Sweet Pea grunted, his fingers curling against the wooden door as he suppressed the moans he so desperately wanted to let out. They didn’t have much time, so she took as much of him as she could while she worked the rest that she couldn’t fit in her mouth with her hands. Every so often she got daring, taking him down as deep as she could as he moaned above her, a hand coming down and tangling in her hair.

“I’m — I’m gonna — ” He stuttered. 

Neris took him even deeper, swallowing around his length. He cursed above her as he spilled into her mouth. They each took a moment to catch their breath, Sweet Pea lazily redoing his jeans, before he hauled her up and pressed a fierce kiss to her lips.

“Come on,” Neris tried to pull away. “We have to get the class. The bell’s gonna ring any moment.”

“Let it ring,” he purred, turning her around and pulling her to him so her back was pressed to his chest. 

With a Cheshire grin, he undid the button to her jeans with one hand as the other was banded around her waist, soft kisses pressed to her neck as he slipped his hands underneath the barrier of her undergarments and sunk a finger into her. Neris gasped at the sudden intrusion, her head falling against his chest as another finger was added, delving deeper within her.

“Shit, princess,” he groaned. “You’re so wet and I haven’t even done anything yet.”

He pushed a third finger into her slick heat, pumping them deep within her to propel her to release as quickly as he could. Her soft pants filled the small room, and Sweet Pea pulled his lip between his teeth as he watched her lose herself, one of her hands coming up to grasp the back of his neck.

“God, baby girl,” he whispered into her ear, his other hand leaving her waist and coming down to tease her clit. “You look so fucking beautiful.” 

Neris shuddered as the pace of his fingers on her clit changed, matching the quick tempo of the fingers pumping in and out of her cunt. He watched, almost mesmerized, as she came undone, a long shuddering moan spilling quietly from her lips.

As if on cue, the warning bell for first period went off, and the pair exchanged soft, tired laughed as they fixed their appearances. Sweet Pea pressed a fleeting kiss on her lips, letting her taste herself after he’d licked his fingers clean, and opened the door of the janitor’s closet.

They were met with a grumpy Fangs who’d taken it upon himself to be their door guard. “I hate you guys.”

The next day at school, Jughead had called the Serpents attending Northside together under the disguise of being a role-playing club. It was a way for them to still maintain their community even though they were all but ostracised at school. 

A few minutes into the meeting, Neris walked into the door, her eyes immediately landing on Sweet Pea, a small smirk crossing her lips.

“No!” Fangs shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at her. “No, no, no, no, no!”

“You know, no one asked you to play doorman,” Sweet Pea reminded him.

“Do you even want to know how many times you were almost caught?” Fangs returned.

“Relax, Fangs,” Neris rolled her eyes. “I just came here to pass along good news.” She turned to Jughead, who was looking at her with curiosity. “Starting tomorrow, the ‘acceptable Riverdale High clothing’ will no longer be mandatory.”

Surprised and pleased noises were heard around the room. “How did you manage that?” Jughead marvelled.

“I made a very compelling case that Weatherbee just couldn’t argue with,” she shrugged,a small, smug smile on her face. “And you can keep the club; I think Weatherbee knows what it’s really for he just doesn’t want to fight that battle.”

“You’re seriously awesome,” Jughead gave a soft laugh.

“I know,” Neris smiled. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to leave before what happened yesterday repeats itself.”

“I’m not complaining,” Sweet Pea grinned, winking as he caught her eye as she left the room.

“I am!” Fangs protested.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I know I've been absent for a while and I'm super sorry for falling off the face of the earth. I've been working on a novel for the past year or so and I just recently began working with an editor to get it ready for publishing. There might be another long pause between the next chapter while I finish working on it, but I appreciate everyone who's left comments and kudos! Thanks guys!

As the spring semester went on, only a week passing since Riverdale High had taken in transfer students from the Southside, preparation for the sports of the season were underway despite the chill of winter still clinging to Riverdale. Basketball tryouts were nearing, and so the Bulldogs were practicing every chance they got. The athletics department being nearly nonexistent at Southside High, the students that had transferred to Riverdale were also taking part.

Who said a little friendly competition never hurt anyone? Because they were liars.

Archie and Reggie were in the gym playing a full court game with some of their fellow teammates in a shirts versus skin match against Sweet Pea, Fangs, a couple other Serpents, and the rest of the Bulldog basketball team.

Neris was camped out on the bleachers with a few other girls, though they made a point to sit far away from the ‘Serpent sympathizer’. Though in some part of her mind she wondered if they were only that vocal about disliking the Southside students because they wanted Reggie to notice them. She had to admit, he wasn’t awful to look at — especially with his shirt off — but even then he couldn’t hold a candle to her Sweet Pea.

At one point, Sweet Pea had gotten control of the ball, Reggie coming to him to block his way to the basket. The size difference was incredibly obvious, Sweet Pea nearly doubled over as he stooped to dribble was the same height as Reggie, who was bending only slightly. Their power was different too, with Sweet Pea knocking Reggie to the side easily as he passed the ball to his teammate. Reggie, who had landed on the ground, seemed to have bruised his ego more than anything else.

She hung around outside the locker room as she waited for them to freshen up; the time when their first class would start was drawing closer and she wanted to be able to spend at least a couple minutes with Sweet Pea before then.

Sweet Pea grinned widely as he exited the locker room, Fangs not too far behind. He curled an arm around her shoulder and pressed a swift kiss against her lips as they made their way down the hall.

“So, what’d you think?” Sweet Pea wondered, an impish grin gracing his lips.

“Very impressive,” Neris remarked, her voice dropping to a slight whine. “But why couldn’t you have been on the skins side?”

“No!” Fangs huffed. “Stop it you!”

Neris laughed. “I won’t stop. I will never stop lusting after my boyfriend. I think the moment that happens I’d be declared dead and you should start planning my funeral.”

“Well, you guys are ridiculous and I can’t take it!” Fangs groaned.

“Aw, are you jealous?” Neris teased. “Well then why don’t you find a boy, or a girl, and have a little fun?”

“Fair warning, dude, I know we’ve shared pretty much everything in the past but I ain’t sharing her,” Sweet Pea chuckled.

“I don’t want to share her, she’s a monster!” Fangs pouted.

Sweet Pea stopped in his tracks, a dark look on his face as he opened his mouth to confront Fangs who had continued on down the hall obliviously.

“Stop,” Neris put a gentle hand on Sweet Pea’s chest.”You know very well that’s not what he meant.”

“I don’t like that word being used on you,” Sweet Pea protested.

Neris smiled softly. “And that’s very sweet of you, but chewing out your best friend for using that word when he’s clearly intimidated by my sexual prowess isn’t exactly the best way to go about things.” Sweet Pea huffed in response, but didn’t press the issue further. Neris stood on her tiptoes and kissed him, “I’ll see you after class?”

“Mmhm,” Sweet Pea hummed, sneaking in another kiss before they parted to go to their respective classes. 

History was an interesting affair, as they were in the midst of oral reports. Cheryl, being the self-aggrandizing Blossom they all seemed to be, was doing her report on a family member. Jughead was absorbed in his laptop — which Neris couldn’t blame him for since Cheryl’s report had barely even begun and yet Neris was falling asleep — but Mrs. Haggly, their teacher, found an issue with it.

“Mr. Jones, eyes up front,” Mrs. Haggly instructed, pulling Jughead’s attention away from his laptop screen.

“Thank you, Mrs. Haggly,” Cheryl remarked as if Jughead not paying attention was the greatest insult. Stepping forward, Cheryl sighed before continuing. “As I was saying, each year, we honor the memory of General Pickens, yet few know the truth.” Clicking a button connected to the projector, Cheryl brought up an image of a man in a Civil War era uniform. “That it was my great-great- great-grandpappy Colonel Barnabas B. Blossom, who bankrolled General Pickens’ settlement of  _ an Eden along the river of Sweetwater, where maple trees grow taller than the steeples of Europe’s grandest cathedrals.  _ Which is why every year I petition the mayor’s office to rename Pickens Day.”

The school bell rang, and the phrase ‘saved by the bell’ never rang more true than it did in that moment. 

“Thank you for that, Cheryl,” Mrs/ Haggly spoke over the noise of the students gathering their things. “Mr. Jones, we look forward to your oral history report next week.”

“Have you even finished your report?” Neris wondered as she and Jughead walked to their next class, which they also shared. “Is that what you were typing?”

“No, that is something completely different,” Jughead admitted. “And yes, as a matter of fact, I do have my report finished.”

“Ooh, can we expect something as equally riveting as the life and times of Barnabas B. Blossom?”

Jughead cracked a half-smile. “Oh, I don’t think I could come even a little close to something as exciting as that?”

Neris snorted. “Well, one can only hope.”

The day continued as normal — or, rather, as normal as a day in Riverdale could be given that every day seemed to be as dramatic as last — and everywhere Neris went she kept hearing about the upcoming Picken’s Day celebration.

“So, this Picken’s Day thing,” Neris began she she and Sweet Pea lounged on her couch after school, his head in her lap as she played with his hair. “It’s like, a big deal right? I mean, it it one of those cliched events where the Northside and Southside put aside their differences for one day?”

Sweet Pea snorted. “Not even a little bit. In fact, it was made pretty clear the Serpents weren’t invited. Well, unless we work security.”

“Security?” Neris repeated. “Seriously? Should I be pissed?”

Sweet Pea merely shrugged. “I’m not really into that stuff, and I’m pretty sure the others aren’t either. It’s too ‘apple pie and white picket fences’ times a million for our tastes.”

She paused for a moment. “Would you be offended if I went? Beacon Hills never had stuff like this. I don’t think we were a small enough town to warrant it. In fact, I can’t even remember if we were a town or a city.”

Sweet Pea snorted once again, looking up at her. “I wouldn’t be offended if you went.”

“Good, cause I would’ve gone andy way and felt guilty about it,” she teased.

“Oh yeah?” He laughed, leaning up and twisting so he was facing her, grabbing her waist and tickling her until she was begging for mercy.  

In the student lounge the next morning, Betty revealed to her friends that she’d found her long lost brother her mom had given up for adoption, and that he was currently staying at her house. Jughead already knew, having put her in touch with the social worker that gave Betty her brother’s information.

“Well, he’s very fetching for someone who was living on Skid Row.” Veronica commented, looking at the picture of Chic on Betty’s phone.

“Yeah, he’s a hottie who looks incredibly familiar to me, by the way,” Kevin remarked as he too looked at the photo.

“Your adventures in the woods?” Jughead wondered.

“I don't know,” Kevin replied, “but maybe if we were allowed to meet this hottie in person…”

“Chic’s still acclimating,” Betty confessed. “And I’m trying to get him to trust me, but my mom is treating him like he’s a ten-year-old and my dad’s acting like he's the devil’s spawn.”

“Well, I have an amazing idea,” Veronica proposed. “Bring The Omen to Picken’s Day and we can all meet him. Everyone’s coming, right?”

“No, because the Serpents weren’t invited,” Jughead retorted icily.

“Wait, that’s not what Sweet Pea said,” Neris contradicted, her eyebrows furrowing.

“The Serpents were  _ specifically  _ asked to come,” Veronica corrected.

“Yeah, to provide security,” Jughead argued flatly. “It’s like we’re all on the Snowpiercer train, but the Serpents happen to be the ones eating the cockroaches.”

“That’s disgusting,” Neris scrunched her nose. “Please don’t give me that visual; I hated that part.”

Veronica rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to work if you don’t want to.”

Jughead looked across the student lounge to see Toni standing in the doorway, her books in her arms, staring at him expectantly. Jughead sighed as he stood. “The damage, as they say, has already been done. Talk to you guys later.”

“Plans with Toni?” Betty asked, her eyes darting to where Toni was standing.

“Uh, yeah, I’m interviewing her grandfather for my oral history report,” Jughead told them as he threw his book bag over his shoulder, clearly missing the poorly concealed unhappy expression Betty was sporting. “The oldest living Serpent.”

“He’s not gonna go after Toni, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Neris remarked as Jughead and Toni disappeared from view.

“I’m...not,” Betty protested lamely.

Neris pinned her with a disbelieving expression. “Look, I get that you and Jughead are...on a hiatus.”

“He broke up with me,” Betty corrected.

“Bughead will rise again!” Neris protested. “Anyways, he and Toni are no more likely to become a thing than...me and Reggie. Eugh,” Neris recoiled slightly. “I think I threw up in my mouth a little.”

“Thanks,” Betty gave her a small, insincere smile, not looking convinced.

A couple days later, Jughead’s article was published in the Blue and Gold, and Toni was pissed.

She, Sweet Pea, Fangs and Neris were hanging out in the parking lot before school, taking a break from hanging out in the student lounge, especially since Reggie was still on a slow-boiling warpath after Sweet Pea bruised his fragile ego by pushing him.

“General Pickens was a murderer and ripples from his gruesome acts continue to be felt today,” Toni read angrily, pacing back and forth in front of her friends. “Descendants of the victims are still being displaced. So I challenge the Northside, instead of honoring men like General Pickens and Hiram Lodge, hold them accountable. Reparations must be paid to men like Thomas Topaz, who are too old and beaten down to fight back for themselves.”

“Whoa, rough,” Fangs frowned. “He met your grandad right?”

“Yes! He interviewed him in person!” Toni swung her arms upwards for emphasis, slightly crumpling the newspaper she was holding.

“I know I only spent a day with him, but your grandad didn’t seem like someone who was ‘broken down’,” Neris commented. “A man of few words, yes. But not broken down.”

“Thank you! Exactly!” Toni agreed.

“You know Jughead’s just pissed that the Serpents are being excluded from the Picken’s Day stuff,” Sweet Pea voice. “That’s the only reason he went on this tirade in the first place. Maybe you should be talking to him.”

Toni’s jaw clenched briefly. “You’re right. That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

With that, she turned on her heel and stomped towards the building to track down Jughead.

On Picken’s Day morning, Neris made her way to Picken’s Park and met up with Kevin near the edge of the park.

“How much do you want to bet the only reason we were given clean up duty after the St. Clair debacle was because they didn’t want to have to pay someone to do it for them in order to get this place clear for today?” Neris wondered as she and Kevin made their way towards the tented vendor booths.

Kevin snorted. “Honestly? Wouldn’t put it past them.”

She chuckled as they neared the main area of the celebrations, looking around at the various treats that were offered.

“So, you want something to eat?” Kevin asked. “They have maple snow cones and waffle sticks with dippings syrup…”

“Is there anything without maple syrup?” Neris wondered. “I’m not really a fan of the taste.”

Kevin stared at her owlishly. “That’s almost like blasphemy in this town.”

Neris snickered, “So I gathered. Ooh, are those stroopwafels? I love those! They don’t have maple syrup in them do they?” She asked, turning to Kevin and anticipating a an answer she didn’t like.

Kevin looked at her with pity, then started laughing when she became despondent. “No, I’m  messing with you. It’s the standard caramel.”

“Oh, thank god,” Neris sighed.

They stopped by, each getting a stroopwafel and a steaming cup of apple cider, and continued wandering through the festival until their attention was caught by feedback from the microphones on the main stage. Fred Andrews was standing behind the mic, tapping it to get everyone’s attention.

“Hello, Riverdale,” he greeted them before clearing his throat. “Happy Pickens Day.” 

A few people cheered, though the rest seemed to be stuffing their faces with sugary snacks. Kevin and Neris moved to stand next to Archie as they watched Mr. Andrews on the stage, Sheriff Keller standing nearby.

“On behalf of Lodge Industries and Andrews Construction, we are thrilled to kick things off with a new twist on an old favorite,” Mr. Andrews announced. “So, Veronica and the Pussycats.”

Veronica and the two actual Pussycats got on stage and began singing the Pussycat version of Duran Duran’s  _ Union of the Snake _ , an interesting choice of song given the tensions between the Northside and the Serpents. Neris searched the crowd to look for Josie, finding her and the look of abject hurt and betrayal on her face.

The attentions of the crowd were drawn away from the stage by the arrival of dozens of Serpents, marching into Picken’s Park with duct tape covering their mouths as they held signs bearing the words ‘Honor this Land’ and ‘Sacred Land’. They pushed through the crowd and made their way towards the main stage, Veronica carrying on with the song despite her confusion. 

Cheryl, no longer holding the candied apple Neris had seen her with earlier, had seemingly abandoned her mother and was now standing alongside the Serpents as they stood in front of the stage, taking a spot just behind Jughead and Thomas. 

Toni, flanked on each side by Sweet Pea and Fangs, stood in front of the stage facing the crowd with a bullhorn in her hand.

“Toni? Jughead?” Veronica hissed, stepping away from the mic. “What the hell is going on?”

“We’re here representing the dead and the silenced,” Toni spoke into the bullhorn. “Pickens Day is a lie. General Pickens slaughtered the Uktena tribe — my grandfather’s family. And this land — the land that we’re standing on, the land that will soon give way to a new Southside — was stolen from them. And we can't bring them back, but we can and we must honor them.”

Hiram, no doubt hoping to undermine the protest and deflect anything that might cause the townspeople to question his pet project, got on stage and took the mic. “Hey, folks, hi. Uh, I think we can all be proud to live in a Riverdale where young people stand up for justice. Where a young woman can defend the honor and legacy of her grandfather. And where we can celebrate the living legacy of the Uktena, who contribute to the rich tapestry that is Riverdale, that is the Southside and that will be SoDale. So let’s hear a round of applause for that, am I right?”

And as if on cue, the audience began applauding, some even cheering and whistling as they ate up everything that Hiram fed to them. Neris had seen guys like Hiram before, and nine out of ten times they ended up pointing a weapon at her or her friends. The smooth talkers that were slimy underneath.

“That’s right,” Hiram egged them on. “What do you say, people?”

The Serpents, having been talked out of their protest, could only stand around in bewilderment.

“Hey,” Neris leaned over to Kevin, her voice low. “I’m gonna head home.”

“You okay?” He asked, noticing her expression.

Neris didn’t reply right away, only pursing her lips and sighing through her nose. “I’ll see you at school.”

It was petty and stupid, but Neris wasn’t in the best mood after what had happened at the Pickens Day festivities. Not just because of Hiram Lodge’s slick maneuvering to get the heat off of the ‘upper echelons’ of Riverdale, but because she was left out of even knowing about the Serpents’ protests.

She wasn’t a Serpent, and she was fully aware that there were some things involving the gang that she’d never know unless she became a member, but Toni was her friend. Sweet Pea was her  _ boyfriend _ . That had to count for something, right? 

Cheryl had been on stage with them for fuck’s sake, and she’d been their loudest dissenter. Why allow her to stand with them but not even mention to Neris that it was even something that would happen? Because of Cheryl’s guilt of her three times great grandfather? Because that eclipsed everything else?

Neris was proud of Toni for standing up for her family, for the legacy of the Serpents, and she was proud of the Serpents for supporting her. But she couldn’t shut up that stupid voice inside her head whispering that there was a reason that she wasn’t included. That she’d never really be included. That this wasn’t her world and even though Sweet Pea liked her, he knew she’d eventually be leaving and so was keeping her at arms length.

It was an insecurity left over from the many years of feeling like a sideshow freak, for being so obviously not human yet passing as one because the vast majority of humans didn’t know any different. And as she left Pickens Park, whispering to Kevin that she’d see him at school, the voice kept getting louder. 

It reminded her that her only other boyfriend left her for someone else — and a hunter at that. It sowed seeds of doubt that Isaac would’ve even stayed with her if she hadn’t broken up with him first. She hadn’t had a boyfriend after him — at least, in her own world — yet both Scott and Stiles had semi-healthy dating lives even with all the peril they were constantly facing. It told her that her mother was right, that she was a monster and she didn’t deserve love. That Sweet Pea could see the writing on the wall and this was just the first step he was taking to distance himself from her. That all his talk about her being his and he being hers was just him getting caught up in the moment, that he didn’t really mean it and he was just waiting for the right moment to end it between them.

She sighed and pulled out a carton of ice cream from the freezer when she got home, just wanting some sugar in her system. She curled up on her couch, snuggling in a big fluffy blanket as she watched Deathgasm on Netflix. No romance tonight — just dark comedy, death metal, and plain ol’ death. 

The movie was about ten minutes in when she heard her front door unlocked and she gave a slight wince, forgetting she had given him a spare after the first time they slept together. She gave a small groan and she scrunched in on herself, hoping if she hid herself in the blanket well enough he wouldn’t want to have a conversation with her.

No such luck.

“You left pretty early,” Sweet Pea began as he rounded the couch and sat by her feet. “You okay? You looked kinda...I dunno, off.”

Neris sighed as she set the carton on the table next to her laptop, hitting the spacebar to pause the movie. “Yeah, I guess.”

Sweet Pea studied her, a frown forming as he noticed she was more than just a little upset. “Hey, what’s going on?”

Neris couldn’t look at him, focusing her attentions on her hands as she fidgeted. “Maybe we should stop this.”

_ SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!  _ The more rational side of her brain screamed.

“What are you talking about?” Sweet Pea wondered, his expression deepening.

“This. Us.” Neris replied. “I mean, what are we even doing?”

Sweet Pea’s jaw tensed, and Neris prepared herself for the inevitability. She’d brought it up and now he had the perfect opportunity to end it himself. She could feel him staring at her with dark eyes, not saying anything, and she swore she could almost hear the seconds passing.

And then he finally moved, scooting towards her and pulling the blanket away to take her head in his hands. “I don’t know what’s going on with you cause this came out of nowhere,” he spoke lowly, trying to keep his voice level despite the frustration creeping through, “but it sounds like you’re talking about breaking up, and if you are you better have a damn good reason to besides being in a bad mood.”

Neris couldn’t help it. As soon as she looked up and locked eyes with him, she started crying. Quietly, at first, with tears streaking down her cheeks as she tried to stifle any noise as best as she could. His expression shifted slightly, the frown still present but now mixed with confusion as he tried to process her sudden mood change, pulling her into his arms in an attempt to comfort her.

“What happened?” He asked, a hand cupping the back of her head as he held her to him. “What’s going on?”

“Why are we even doing this?” She sobbed.

“Baby, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m a freak! I’m an outsider! I’m never going to be a part of your life — not really — cause this isn’t my world. It’s never going to be and you know it! Why are we even bothering when it’s all going to end?”

Her question almost broke his heart because it was one he’d asked himself many times before. Why get involved with someone when he saw how relationships worked on the Southside? When he saw all the many ways a relationship could fall to pieces. Discovering Neris’ siren nature was almost like a gift. She’d never betray him, never grow tired of him and leave, never find someone she liked better and left him for another. The kind of relationship he thought he would be forever denied was suddenly a very real possibility.

But he never thought about Neris never having the same assurance. He was human and had fickle human emotions. He didn’t even care about the cause of her doubt, he just wanted to make her understand that it was unfounded.

“Neris, listen to me,” he spoke, pulling away from her slightly and lifting her head to face his. “You are not a freak and you are not an outsider. You are mine. I don’t say things like that just because they sound nice; I mean it. I mean every word of it.”

“But — ”

Sweet Pea cut her off with a soft kiss. “Every word. Why you think you’re not a part of my life is ridiculous, because you are my life. If I didn’t know the real reason why you’re here I’d think you were a gift sent down by the gods. The perfect mix of rage and softness. Perfect for someone like me.”

“I’m a freak.”

“Stop it,” he told her gently. “I don’t know where all of this is coming from, and we’ll talk about it later, but I want you to get one thing through your head. I love you. And I’m not going to let you talk yourself out of being with me for any reason other than you not feeling the same way.” 

Neris hiccuped. “What?”

Sweet Pea sighed pulling her back into an embrace. “I didn’t want to tell you like this. I had this big, sappy moment all planned out. I was gonna take you to the quarry and tell you as the sun set.”

“You love me?” She whispered, leaning into him.

“I do. It’s kinda hard not to,” he replied. She sniffed, wiping away the stray tears that trickled down her cheeks, opening her mouth to say something, but Sweet Pea cut her off. “You can tell me tomorrow when we go to the quarry. I kinda want to do it again the way I planned. We can also talk about what got you feeling like this later, too. Right now I just want to hold you.”

Neris gave a shuddering sigh, leftover emotions still bubbling up, as she curled into Sweet Pea as he adjusted his position on her couch. As he lay on his back, an arm around her waist as she snuggled up and lay partially on top of him, his hands never left her. His fingers brushed across her back, his other hand running through her hair and softly stroking his fingertips along her neck.

She leaned up and pressed a kiss on his lips, soft and lingering. “Could you say it again?”

He smiled softly. “I love you.”

She kissed him once more. “I love you, too.”   


End file.
